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OUNDLE'S 




TORY 



CANON SM ALLEY LAW 



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THE CHURCH FROM VICARAGE GARDEN 

(From a negative belonging to Mr. E. M. Harvey) 



Fro7itispiece 



Oundle's Story 



OUNDLE'S STORY 

A HISTORY OF TOWN AND SCHOOL 



BY 

W. SMALLEY LAW, B.D. 

VICAR OF OUNDLE AND RURAL DEAN 
AND HONORARY CANON OF PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 



LONDON 
THE SHELDON PRESS 

NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.2 
NEW YORK AND TORONTO : THE MACMILLAN CO. 



4?o 

3<? 



TO THE MEMORY 

OF 

FKEDEKICK WILLIAM SANDEKSON 

HEADMASTER OF OUNDLE 

1892—1922. 

Fell Asleep 15th June, 1922. 

" He attempted the impossible . . . and was justified.' 




1922 

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED - 



LONDON AND BECCLES. 



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FOREWORD 



PREFACE 

1HAVE advocated always the teaching of history 
from local and immediate surroundings, on the 
principle that you must begin where you are. 
The force of the imagination upon conduct may be 
great, but to allow the imagination an illimitable field 
in conjuring up the past is risky. To this end, I set 
out some few years ago to write an " Oundle Child's 
History," when some of older growth inquired, "Why 
leave us out ? " Hence this record of Oundle's story. 
It is often said that there is no room for originality 
in the writing of history, and, certainly, this is largely 
true with regard to my little book ; but I may claim 
to have spent much time in research and to have 
elucidated a few points. But it could not have been 
put together without the kind help of many friends. 
To some I have expressed acknowledgment in the 
course of the narrative, and I cannot name them all; 
but I desire to mention those to whom I am especially 
indebted. To Mrs. Smith, of Cobthorne, Oundle, to 
Miss Smith, of the Rectory, and to Miss Dixon, of 
Rose Cottage, the daughter of a lover of archaeology, 
I owe my sincere thanks for the loan of documents 
and papers. Dr. George Bidder, of Cambridge, Canon 
Howard, late Dean of Stamford, and Mr. A. H. M. 
Spence, of Pembroke College, Oxford, have kindly 
assisted me in confirming facts. To the late Rev. R. M. 
Serjeantson, F.S.A., Rector of St. Peter's, Northampton, 



iv PREFACE 

I am greatly indebted, and it is especially pleasing 
to mention the condition with which he desired me to 
associate my acknowledgment of the use of his notes. 
It was that I should make it known that any expense 
incurred by him in connection with the research into 
matters Oundelian was defrayed by the late Mr. R. P. 
Brereton, whose name is recalled by many with deep 
regard. 

Two other names I mention with gratitude — the 
first is that of Mr. H. M. King, of Oundle School, 
with whom I have had "many conversations," and 
who has added to his kindness by reading the proof 
sheets. The other is that of him to whose memory 
my book is dedicated and who alone read the MS. 
and gave me constant encouragement. My friendship 
with him is one of the greatest inspirations of my life. 
If he had lived, I had hopes of seeing the Story on 
"the Screen," which would have made the history of 
the old-world town of Oundle live with a fuller vitality 
than print can give. But he has gone from shadows 
to reality. Perhaps some one else may come forward 
to make this possible. 

W. SMALLEY LAW. 

August, 1922. 

Note. — In quotations I have preserved the actual 
spelling, even though there may be variants of proper 
names within a few lines. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. In the Days of the Hectors 

II. The Paeish Church 

III. A Walk Round in 1565 

IV. A Great Founder ... 
V. Parish Priest and Benefactor 

VI. The Commonwealth — Before and After 
Social Life in the Eighteenth Century 



VII 
VIII 



" What we have heard with our Ears 
Fathers have told us" 

Epilogue ... 

Index 



and our 



I'ACIE 
1 

•16 

24 
47 
63 
77 
99 

119 
136 
139 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Church from Vicarage Garden ... 

Facsimile Foreword by the late F. W. Sanderson 

Conspectus of Parish Church 

The Laxton Chair 

The School Arms ... 

Hall of Latham Hospital 

Oundle in 1710 

Town War Memorial 



FACING PAGE 

Frontispiece 



VII 

16 
48 
62 
72 
100 
136 



vn 



OUNDLE'S STORY 

CHAPTER I 

IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 

THE town of Oundle — in the Anglo-Saxon, Undela — 
has behind it a very long history circling round 
the Parish Church, but bringing also before the 
imagination kings, queens, archbishops, and high officers 
of State, as well as the business man and worker, who 
have all made their contribution. 

Of the man to whom it is indebted for its name we 
can say nothing ; but it would appear to be most probable 
that it is not to the river (Avondale) but to a person that 
we must ascribe it. " Unna's " dales speak to us of the 
scenes which have formed the background of the actions 
of a long series of lives since the days of our unknown 
ancestor, Unna. As has been pointed out, if we walk 
from Biggin to the town along the jP e nefield Road we 
shall be able to note the formation of the ground and 
welcome Nature's assistance in the realisation of our 
story. Professor Skeat,* in writing to a friend, said : 
" I will believe Oundle to be derived from Avondale, 
whenever I hear any Englishman call a raven a roun. In 
my experience no one would think of it." 

Oundle is built on a road from Peterborough to Market 
Harborough, and stands on a spur of the Great Oolite 

* Cambridge County Geographies. M. W. Brown's ** North- 
amptonshire," p. 60. 



2 OUNDLE'S STORY 

(clays and limestones), at a mean elevation of 92 feet 
above sea-level, the Parish Church being on ground 111 
feet above. The town is triangular in form, and the 
streets are so placed as to receive the westerly and north- 
westerly winds and to be protected from those from the 
east. 

John Morton, the author of a Natural History of 
Northamptonshire, educated at Oundle, in 1712 described 
Oundle thus : — 

"Oundle is a fair, well-built, pleasant and healthy 
town, advantageously and sweetly situate. 'Tis built on 
a declining ground, on the North side of the River Nene, 
which, at a small distance, encompasses it in the figure of 
a crescent, and enriches its fruitful meadows — a situation 
very agreeable with regard to health." 

The mean estimated population from 1870 — 1880 was 
2,900 persons, but in recent years, in spite of the rapid 
growth of Oundle School, whose numbers were included 
in the census of 1911 and 1921, the returns show 2,749 
and 2,654 respectively. 

The man who, by his death in Oundle, has made its 
name famous in ecclesiastical histoiy has been described 
as " light-hearted, wrong-headed, full of genius, but 
defective in judgment. The most eloquent man of his 
day, he was overbearing in argument, but in action he 
was tolerant and generous." 

This was St. Wilfred, who died in Oundle in 709. It 
was at the Council of Whitby in 665 that Wilfred, then 
under thirty years of age, made his mark as the advocate 
of uniformity of church custom on the plan of Rome. 
Wilfred so attracted the Royal attention of the King that 
he was called to be the second of the Bishops of York. 
But according to the principles advocated by him at 
Whitby, Wilfred journeyed to the Continent for his con- 
secration, and upon his return, after a very long stay 
abroad, found himself forestalled and another Bishop 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 3 

chosen in his place. Being ultimately admitted to his 
See, it was not long before he was again in controversy. 
Theodore, now Archbishop of Canterbury, the founder of 
our parochial system, determined to have dioceses of 
manageable size, and proceeded to divide that of York 
into three. Against this Wilfred appealed to Rome, and 
thus initiated, so far as records go, the system of appeals 
to Rome. Although successful, Wilfred was not permitted 
the fruits of victory, but was condemned to imprisonment, 
partly on suspicion of having obtained the Papal Bull by 
fraud. Upon his release Wilfred, in company with five 
priests, migrated to Sussex, where he found the inhabitants 
wholly ignorant of the Divine Name. There was a failure 
of the crops, and the people had no knowledge of fishing. 
Wilfred collected eel nets and cast them into the sea, and 
divided the fish he secured into three portions, namely, 
for the poor, for the lenders of the nets, for themselves. 
The people soon came to love him, and his work of conver- 
sion went on rapidly. 

He founded a church at Selsey, on a spot long since 
submerged in the Channel. The King of Sussex gave 
Wilfred 87 hydes of land and 250 men and women living 
upon it — " bondsmen and bondswomen." Every one of 
these he immediately freed and afterwards baptised. 
A portion of Wilfred's old diocese was after some years 
given back to him — but only for five years, when he was 
once more an exile. From 692 — 705 he acted as Bishop 
of the Diocese of Leicester, and probably first visited 
Oundle during that time, and founded his monastery of 
St. Andrew. 

On a further appeal to Rome, Wilfred was again 
condemned by a Council, but at length, upon the inter- 
cession of the Pope, he was allowed to hold the Bishopric 
of Hexham. In his old age he wished, like Elijah, to see 
the monasteries he had founded, and on his round of 
visitation he arrived in Oundle in the autumn of 709. 
Here he was taken ill, and died on October 3rd, while the 



4 OUNDLE'S STORY 

monks were singing the 30th verse of Psalm 104, " When 
Thou lettest Thy breath go forth they shall be made." 

In October, 1909, the twelve-hundredth anniversary of 
his death was commemorated in Oundle, and the font in 
the Parish Church dedicated by Bishop Glyn of Peter- 
borough. After Wilfred's death the monastery founded 
by him in Oundle was plundered and burnt, and lay waste 
for more than a century. 

It is interesting to note that in the middle of the tenth 
century Archbishop Wulfstan, one of Wilfred's successors 
in the See of York, also ended his days in Oundle and was 
buried here in 956. Not long after, Wilfred's church was 
rebuilt by iEthelwold, Bishop of Winchester, and became 
the Parish Church. A carved stone of Saxon work, 
perhaps part of a cross or coffin lid, remains, but no 
part of the Saxon church is to be found in the present 
fabric. 

iEthelwold was a disciple of Dunstan, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and was made Bishop of Winchester in 963, 
and with the encouragement of King Edgar, rebuilt the 
monastery of Medeshamstede (Peterborough). The story 
of his dream, in which he was warned to move on from 
Oundle to Peterborough, is told by Hugh the Chronicler. 
We give it, first, in the original for the purpose of easy 
and permanent reference. 

" Restauratio Burgi per sanctum Adeluuoldum. 
Post prsefinitum autem tempus a Domino, surrexit 
sanctissimus iEdelwoldus Episcopus Wentanae Civitatis 
in tempore Edgari regis christiamssimi qui expandens 
aureas alas aquilse sibi praefiguratse late per orbem, 
Angliae ccepit plurima monasteria per diversa fundare 
vel construere aut reparare loca ; adjuvante Domino et 
amminiculante sibi rege piissimo et benignissimo Edgaro. 
Cumque in tali opere die noctuque infudaret, astitit ei 
quadem nocte in visu Dominus, monens eum ut ad 
mediterraneos Anglos proficisceretur, quatenus quoddam 
antiquum Sancti Petri monasterium destructum in 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 5 

priorem statum repararet. Quid multa ? Paruit ille 
statim jussis qui ad omnia bona agenda promptus erat. 
Veniensque in provinciam ad ipsius monasteria quondam 
possessionem Undala dietam, putansque ipsum esse locum 
quem sibiDominus demonstraverat quia aptum etydoneum 
ad hoc ipsum locum invenerat, ccepit construere. Et ecce 
iterum ei Dominus apparere dignatus est, monens ipsum 
ut per crepidinem ipsius alvei paululum progrederetur, 
donee ad ipsos parietes ipsius combusti monasterii per- 
veniret. Qui, laetus de visione et jussa complens, repperit 
ibi in ipsa ecclesia stabula facta jumentorum et pecundum, 
omnemque locum spurcitia et immunditia repletum. Qui 
dolens in intimis visceribus quod tarn pulchrum Dei 
templum ita ad nihilum esset reductum ; ccepit tamen 
instantem emundare locum. Et videns, quod ad tarn 
magnum locum oporterent, Wintoniam rediit, ut se 
praepararet, et die ac nocte deprecans eum, qui sibi hsec 
ostenderat ut ei necessaria praeberet, quo tarn grande 
opus perficere posset. Et dum die quodam intrasset 
solus oratorium suum more solito oraturus, ac expandisset 
manus suas ad Deum, deprecans ut sibi regem et reginam 
caeterosque optimates, pios et adjutores ad praedictum opus 
et ad caetera, quae ipse inceperat, faceret, fertur stetisse 
ibi reginam clanculo ex industria retro ostium in angulo ut 
auscultaret quomodo vel quid Deum servus Dei depre- 
caretur. Quae cum audisset omnia, quaecunque rogasset, 
subito praesiliit ac comprehendens eum ; dixit Deum et 
ipsam exaudisse preces ejus, ipsamque pollicetur con- 
solatricem et adjutricem in omnibus fore, compulsuramque 
regem caeterosque et similia agere. At ille quamvis 
paululum verecundatus increpasset earn, tamen omnium 
bonorum largitori gratias egit. Quae mox ad regem veniens 
cuncta per ordinem quae audierit bonamque voluntatem 
ipsius. Pontificis coram cunctis pandit ipsumque hortatur 
et deprecatur, ut ecclesias Dei aedificet, et restauret, quo 
sibi regnum caeleste adquireret. Et quia erat idem rex 
sapientissimus at erga religionem et ecclesias Dei devotis- 
simus, mox ad se accitum episcopum praecepit, ut instanter, 
quae inceperat, consummaret, promittens se ei in omnibus 
auxiliaturum fore. Quod et largiter implevit ut postea 
patuit," 



6 OUNDLE'S STORY 

" The restoration of Burgh by Saint iEdelwold. More- 
over, when the time appointed of the Lord was come, 
iEthelwold, most saintly bishop of the city of Winchester, 
arose in the time of Edgar, most Christian monarch, who 
spreading his golden wings like an eagle far and wide 
through the realm of England, began to found or build or 
restore very many monasteries in different places with the 
help of the Lord and with the support of the most pious 
and benign King Edgar himself. And when he had spent 
himself in such work day and night, on a certain night the 
Lord stood by him in a vision warning him to set out to 
the midland English as far as a certain ancient monastery 
of St. Peter, which had been destroyed, that he might 
restore it to its former condition. Why many words ? 
Immediately he obeyed the commands, being quick to 
carry out all good works. And coming into a district 
formerly the property of the monastery called Oundle, and 
thinking it was the very place which the Lord had shown 
to him, because he had found it fit and appropriate to that 
place, he began to build. And behold again the Lord 
vouchsafed to appear to him, warning him to go a little 
further along the edge of the river-bed itself until he should 
come to the walls of the burnt monastery. And he, joyful 
because of the vision and fulfilling the commands, found 
set up there in the church itself stables of beasts of burden 
and cattle, and the whole place filled with filth and foul- 
ness. And he grieving in his inmost heart that so fair a 
temple of God should be brought to nought, nevertheless 
began immediately to cleanse the place. And seeing how 
much was needed for so great a place he returned to 
Winchester to prepare himself, and praying day and night 
that He Who had shown him these things, would provide 
him with what was necessary that he might complete so 
great a work. And when one day he had entered alone 
into his oratory to pray, according to his wont, and had 
spread forth his hands to God, praying that He would 
make the king and queen and the rest of the nobles his 
pious helpers for the appointed work and the other things 
which he had begun, it is said that the queen stood there 
intentionally, in a corner behind the door, that she might 
hear how or in what way the servant of God was praying to 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 7 

God. And when she had heard all the things he had asked 
she leapt forth suddenly, and, confronting him, said that 
God and she had heard his prayers, and promised to be his 
supporter and helper in all things, and to urge the king 
and the rest of the people to do likewise. But he, although 
for a little while he respectfully rebuked her, nevertheless 
gave thanks to the Giver of all good. And she soon 
coming to the king relates in order all she has heard and 
the goodwill of the bishop himself, and exhorts and 
entreats him to build and restore the churches of God that 
he may win for himself the heavenly kingdom. And 
because the same king was most wise and most devoted 
to religion and the Church of God, he at once ordered the 
bishop to be summoned to himself that he might carry 
out immediately what he had begun, promising to help 
him in everything, which promise, as appeared afterwards, 
he lavishly fulfilled." 

The scene in the oratory described in this preceding 
paragraph is carved on the return stall on the north side 
of the choir gates of Peterborough Cathedral. 

A little over eighty years after iEthelwold's death 
brings us to the Domesday survey. 

Under the possessions of the Abbey of Peterborough 
in Domesday Book appears the following : — 

" Ipsa eccla : ten : VI hid : in Undele, tra : e : IX car : 
In dnio : sunt III car : III servi XXIII villi : X bord : 
cu : IX car : Ibi molin : de XX sol : CCL anguilli : ibi 
L ac : pa : Silva III leu : lg : II leu : lat : Cu : onerat. 
val : XX sol : De mercato XXV sol : Valuit V sol. 
modo XI lib : " 

When written fully out, this entry should read pre- 
sumably thus : — ■ 

" Ipsa ecclesia tenet VI hidas in TJndele. Terra est 
IX carucarum. In dominio sunt III carucae, III servi 
XXIII villani : X bordarii cum IX carucis. Ibi 
molinum de XX solidis, CCL anguillis. Ibi L acras 



8 OUNDLE'S STORY 

pasturae Silva III leugarum longitudine, II leugarum 
latitudine. Cum oneratur valet XX solidos, De mercato 
XXV solidi. Valuit V solidos modo XI libra." 

" The same Church holds 6 hides in Undele. There is 
land for 9 ploughs there. In demesne are 3 ploughlands, 
3 serfs, 23 villeins, and 10 bordars with 9 ploughlands. 
There is a mill rendering 205. and 250 eels. There are 50 
acres of pasture. There is wood, 3 leagues long, 2 leagues 
broad. When stocked it is worth 20s. From the market 
comes 25s. It was worth 5s., but now it is worth £11." 

We shall be able to give details of the mill later on in 
our story. 

We must interpret the measurements given here with 
a very different vision from that which we have to-day. 
Three leagues by two leagues would mean that the 
woodland of Oundle included 8,640 acres. The increase 
in value of the manor retained in demesne between 1066 
and 1086 was probably due either to the condition of 
waste in the former year, or to the clearing of the woods 
which had taken place in the interval of twenty years. A 
similar clearance had taken place in Ashton, for, according 
to Domesday : — 

" The same church holds 4j hides in Ascetone. There 
is land for 8 ploughs. In demesne there are 2 ploughs 
with 1 serf ; and 11 villeins and 2 bordars with 6 ploughs. 
There are 2 mills rendering 40s. and 325 eels and 16 acres 
of meadow, and 4 acres of wood. It was worth 8s. , now 
£7." 

There is a personal note, " Ivo holds of the Abbot 
half a hide. It is worth 45." 

In a twelfth- century survey of Oundle, there is also 
evidence of a personal note. " There also Vivien, 1 small 
virgate." Abbot Turold is recorded to have given Vivian 
of Churchfield J hide in Oundle. 

Turold or Thorold of Fescamp was Abbot of Peter- 
borough from 1069 to 1099. It is not until sixty years 
after Turold's death, 1159, that we have any information 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 9 

of a Rector of Oundle, Ralph, to whom a grant is made of 
four acres of land by permission of the Pope. In Ralph's 
day the Parish Church was probably a cruciform building 
with a central tower. In 1216 the monks of Peterborough 
displeased King John, who took revenge upon them by 
burning their property. He sent forces to burn the church 
and town of Croyland, but happily the scruples of their 
officers prevented such a catastrophe. The church in 
Oundle also escaped, although the monastery granaries 
here were destroyed. 

It was not uncommon in those days for the Abbot to 
appoint men in minor orders to be Rectors of the churches 
under the monastery. In 1223, a Subdeacon named John 
de Burgo, was appointed to the Rectory of Oundle, and it 
was stipulated that he should continue to attend school. 
But next came John de Oundle, the first man of whom we 
have record as bearing this designation, and of whom we 
still possess a memorial, though it has ceased to be legible. 
Bridges, the historian, tells us that just two centuries ago 
there existed in the church a fine floriated cross with an 
inscription in Lombardic characters to the memory of this 
John. In Bridge's day the inscription remained thus : — 

Johan : de : Undele : ke : 
CI LID : Re : De : 

Scotepe. 

John was also Rector of Scotter in Lincolnshire, where 
the monks of Peterborough were also patrons, and where 
in most cases the men appointed were in minor orders. 
Though the indentation of the cross alone remains, there 
can be little doubt that the memorial slab in the chancel 
floor of our Parish Church just to the south of the organ is 
that which tells of this Rector of very early days. Passing 
over it daily we have recalled often the words, " There 
was a man sent from God whose name was John." Thus 
does the memory of John of Oundle call down the centuries 
to the men of his town — " Men sent from God ! " 



10 OUNDLE'S STORY 

In 1267 the Abbot of Peterborough obtained the 
privilege of a 14 days' fair here, beginning on the feast of 
Ascension. 

After Hugh de Colingham (1278-9—1295-6), and Roger 
Boudon (1295-6 — -1303), there came one, Robert de Croy- 
land, who retained the Rectory for forty years, and whose 
body was placed to rest in the Parish Church. This man 
had simply reached the office of acolyte, but was evidently 
a man of influence, as seven years after his appointment to 
Oundle (in 1310) he was permitted to hold also the Rectory 
of Peakirk, and two years later a third benefice. 

" In Whitsun Week, 1313, during Robert de Croyland's 
incumbency the parishioners of Tansor were making their 
customary Whitsuntide procession to Oundle preceded by 
their cross and candles. They had just entered the church- 
yard when some of the inhabitants of Oundle rushed upon 
them, attacked both priests and people, broke up the staff 
of the cross into three or four pieces and trod the cross under 
their feet ■ in an heretical and diabolical manner.' The 
Bishop in consequence excommunicated the offenders. 
The real reason for this attack was certainly local jealousy, 
and no anger against the symbol of Christianity. Pro- 
bably it was customary, and was considered courteous, for 
the crosses of surrounding parishes to be lowered on 
entering the town or the churchyard of Oundle. At any 
rate the entry is of interest as showing that Oundle, an 
early centre of Christianity, was regarded as the mother 
church or minster of some of the surrounding parishes who 
came at Whitsuntide to make their Pentecostal gifts." * 

Bishop Dalderby of Lincoln, who excommunicated 
these offenders, granted an indulgence towards the repair 
of Oundle bridge. 

It is interesting to note that four years after the above 

date, viz. in 1317, John Gifford, Rector of Cotterstock, 

founded in that parish one of the largest, if not the largest, 

colleges of private foundation of a chantry character 

* "Victoria History of Northamptonshire." 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 11 

throughout the kingdom. Through its Rector, Robert de 
Croyland, Oundle became linked with the foundation of 
King's College, Cambridge. On July 7, 1317, Edward II. 
promulgated a writ for establishing the King's College in 
the University of Cambridge. The King's scholars took 
up their residence two days later — ten and a warden — : 
rising to the normal of thirty-five scholars in 1319. 

" In 1336 the question of giving the Society " (King's 
Hall) " a permanent home of its own was taken in hand. 
On October 28 of that year the king purchased from 
Robert de Croyland, Rector of Oundle, a large house built 
on the ground now occupied by the walls and grass plot 
in front of the chapel of Trinity College. It has been 
suggested that this was the house that had been previously 
hired for the scholars. The house bought from Robert de 
Croyland was built round three sides of a square, the centre 
block standing near and parallel to the present chapel, 
and the two projecting wings extending beyond the path 
which now runs from the Great Gate to The Lodge. It 
was in two storeys, of wood and thatched." In assigning 
rooms to the scholars " those on the ground floor were 
known as celary and those on the upper floor as solary."* 

Robert de Croyland died in 1342, and was buried by the 
Prior of Peterborough on St. Matthew's Day before the 
altar of the Parish Church. Before the burial, the sacrist 
of the Abbey publicly claimed in the church, on behalf of 
the Abbey, the deceased Rector's best saddle and bridle as 
a mortuary due, in that he had held a benefice in the 
patronage of the abbey. Mortuary dues were paid in 
Oundle, as we shall see later, until well into the nineteenth 
century. 

Croyland's successor was a great personage, one John 
de Thoresby, Canon of Lincoln and Southwell and keeper 
of the King's Privy Seal. He was so constantly engaged 

* "The King's Scholars and King's Hall," published 
anonymously on the six -hundredth anniversary of King 
Edward II. 's writ. 



12 OUNDLE'S STORY 

in London in attendance on the king (Edward III.), and 
put to such expense in " so doing," that the king provided 
a grant for a year to meet the expense of food and travelling 
for Thoresby's attendants and servants from Oundle to 
London and back for a year. Thoresby was Rector for 
three years only, during which time he was made Dean 
of Lichfield in addition to all his other offices. He became 
Bishop of St. David's, then Bishop of Worcester, and 
ultimately in 1352 Archbishop of York, which he retained 
for 21 years, dying on November 6, 1373. We should 
remember Thoresby for two things — he settled the primacy 
in favour of Canterbury, and laid the foundation of the 
present choir of York Minster. 

Thoresby was followed in 1346 by one James de Beau- 
fort, who was also a statesman rather than an ecclesi- 
astic, and who also held many offices. Like his prede- 
cessor he held the Rectory of Oundle for three years, 
when he exchanged with one Roger Holm, who, only yet 
a sub-deacon, was already an incumbent in the diocese of 
Salisbury. The year after his appointment to Oundle 
he obtained leave of absence for five years that he might 
study at a University. 

Three other Rectors followed Holm, and then came 
rivals to the throne in the persons of Thomas Brake and 
John Boor. The former was duly appointed and insti- 
tuted by the monks of Peterborough, but the king, who 
claimed the patronage, gained the day in favour of his 
nominee. When, however, Richard II. was dethroned, 
Brake commenced an action for the recovery of his bene- 
fice and was ultimately reinstated in 1407. 

This year of settlement of differences between Rectors 
witnessed the committal of a serious crime in the parish, 
in the neighbourhood of the south side of the " Brick- 
stock " — now the Benefield Road. The legal chronicler 
recorded it as follows : — 

" Phillipus Skynner de Oundell in dicta Gaole existens 
eo quod ipse indicatus est coram prefatis custodibus 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 13 

pacis eo quod ipse simul cum aliis ignotis die Jovis in f esto 
Apostolorum Simone et Jude anno regni regis Henrici IIII* 1 
post conquestum octavo Robertum Hamond de Oundell 
apud Oundell in quodam loco vocato Pekkesle felonice 
interfecit et murderavit. Matildaque fuit uxor predicti 
Roberti Hammond et Johannes films ejusdem Matilde in 
dicta gaola existentes eo quod ipsi indicati sunt coram 
prefatis custodibus pacis eo quod ipsi die Veneris proximo 
post festum Apostolorum Simone et Jude anno regni 
regis Henrici HIP post conquestum octavo predictum 
Phillipus Skynner apud Oundell felonice receptaverunt 
scientesipsum Phillipum esse felo domini regis et fecisse 
feloniam et murderum predictum. Et de eo quod prefati 
Matilda et Johannes Lawe fuerunt conscientes cum prefato 
Phillipo die et anno supradictis ad feloniam et murderum 
predictum faciendum." 

Which being translated reads : — 

Phillip Skynner of Oundle being in the said gaol because 
he was indicted before the aforesaid guardians of the peace 
in that he, together with other persons unknown, on 
Thursday in the festival of the Apostles Simon and Jude 
in the eighth year of the reign of King Henry IV. since the 
conquest, did feloniously slay and murder Robert 
Hamond of Oundle in a certain place called Pekkesle 
(Pexley). And Matilda the wife of the aforesaid Robert 
Hamond and John son of the same Matilda being in the 
said gaol in that they were indicted before the aforesaid 
Guardians of the peace, in that they on Friday next after 
the festival of the Apostles Simon and Jude in the eighth 
year of the reign of King Henry IV. since the conquest, did 
feloniously receive the aforesaid Phillip Skynner at Oundle 
knowing the said Phillip to be a felon against the Lord 
King and to have committed the aforesaid felony and 
murder. And for that the aforesaid Matilda and John 
Law were accessory to the aforesaid Philip on the day 
and year above mentioned for committing the murder and 
felony aforesaid." 

In the days of Brake's successor, Richard Ashton, 
who was Abbot of Peterborough from 1439 — 1471, 



14 OUNDLE'S STORY 

consecrated at Peterborough two suits of vestments, one of 
black velvet and the other of white damask, and also three 
bells, probably small hand bells, for Oundle Church. His 
successor, Abbot William Ramsey, consecrated another 
bell. These matters were brought to light some forty to 
fifty years later when a dispute arose between the Bishop 
of Lincoln and the Abbot of Peterborough as to the right 
to consecrate, Willyam Coke, Thomas Saundbek, John 
Castell, and other parishioners of Oundle giving evidence 
in favour of the Abbot. 

The last incumbent of Oundle to rise to the episcopate 
was John de la Bere, who, in 1447, was made Bishop of 
St. David's. In 1469 the tithes of Ashton and Oundle 
Mills, together with four acres of arable land in Swynley 
(this I cannot trace) and a little meadow between Dodmore 
and the Nene, passed to the Rector, and in return the 
monks of Peterborough received tithes of all loppings and 
underwood in the parish. 

The year 1477 was one which greatly affected the after 
history of the parish. It saw the last of the Rectors of 
Oundle. The monks of Peterborough, as we have seen, 
had long been patrons of the living. They now became 
possessed of the Rectorial manor, on condition that a 
" vicarage be sufficiently endowed and a competent sum 
of money — for the monks were the almoners of the poor — 
be distributed yearly among the poor parishioners by the 
diocesan of the place." The king, in return, received 
from the monks some 84 acres in the parish of Cottingham ; 
but the monks gained largely, for they received the total 
income amounting to £54 6s. 8d. and paid the resident 
priest or Vicar (-substitute) £13 6s. 8d. per annum. Of 
this agreement we shall hear again later, but it is the 
explanation of that which puzzles many, namely, the fact 
that there is a Rectory upon one side of the churchyard 
and a Vicarage on the other. The arrangement was 
approved by the Bishop of Lincoln, in whose diocese 
Oundle was then situate and who was ever remembered in 



IN THE DAYS OF THE RECTORS 15 

consequence by the monks as they said their Bede Roll. 
The last of the Rectors was Henry Holeyn, and the first 
Vicar came at once to reside in the house provided for him 
on the site of the present Vicarage. The first " Vicar " 
was David Newton, who came in 1481, and, strange to say, 
was the first incumbent to see the church completed, with- 
out of course the vestry, on its present plan. 



Rectors of Oundle. 

Ralph, (occurs) 1159. 

John de Burgo, 1223. 

John de Oundle, (occurs) 1269, died 1278. 

Hugh.de Collingham, Feb. 19, 1278-9. 

Roger Boudon, March 1, 1295-6. 

Robert de Croyland, July 2, 1303, died 1343. Buried 

in Church. 
John de Thoresby, Sept. 29, 1313. 
James de Beaufort, Dec. 1346. 
Roger Holm, Nov. 7, 1349, exchanged 1352. 
Richard de Thoresby, May 8, 1352. 
Adam de Ridelyngton. 
John de Sleford, June 30, 1365. 
Henry de Snayth, July 13, 1365. 
Walter de Baketon, Aug. 21, 1367, died 1370. 
Richard de Treton, Feb. 1, 1370-1. 
Thomas Brake, Dec. 23, 1395, ejected 1398. 
John Boor, January 30, 1398-9. 
Thomas Brake (reinstated), 1407. 
Alan Kyrketon, Oct. 15, 1431. 
John de la Bere, Aug. 23, 1443, resigned 1447. 
John Middleham, B.C.L., Nov. 13, 1447. 
Richard Hall, LL.D., (occurs) 1469, died 1476. 
Henry Holeyn, April 20, 1476. 



CHAPTER II 

THE PARISH CHURCH 

IN the conspectus which we print on the opposite 
page, it will be seen in the first diagram that the 
Norman Church * was cruciform, and that definite 
dimensions are assigned to it. If we grasp the position 
of this building we shall be helped very greatly to 
trace its development. 

" There is evidence for a cruciform church with a central 
tower, the end walls of its four limbs being in line with the 
outside walls of the existing chapels and aisles. The nave 
was part of an early church (possibly Saxon) consisting of 
nave and presbytery, to which a central tower, transepts, 
and chancel were added during the first part of the twelfth 
century, in place of the presbytery. 

" The Chancel. — The head of its North window remains 
above the arch leading into the chapel. Portions of an 
external sill string remain in the opposite wall. Part of a 
shallow buttress may be seen from outside built up in the 
East wall of the North chapel — the corresponding buttress 
was removed when the South chapel was rebuilt. 

" Transepts. — The great width for their period of the 
E.E. aisles suggests that their North and South walls were 
built in line with already existing transepts ; in fact the 
South-west quoining of the South transept may be seen 
outside where the transept and aisle meet. The side walling 

* I am indebted for these notes on the Norman Church to 
Mr. Arthur B. Whittingham, of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, 
an " O. O." who has devoted great time and pains to the study 
-of the subiecfc. 



i 



rTri 




• - • lift 











CONSPECTUS SHEWING PROBABLE DEVELOPMENT OF 

PARISH CHURCH 
p. 16 



THE PARISH CHURCH 17 

of the transepts still exists above the arches into the aisles 
and chapels. 

"The Norman Chancel and Transepts Contem- 
porary. — The top of this walling comes some feet below 
the top of the present walls. The walls of the E.E. extension 
of the chancel (with no doubt the Norman chancel more 
to the West) are of the same height. The North-east 
" skew-back " — still in situ — of the old steep gable of the 
chancel shows that not more than one course can have 
been removed from the walls. The Norman plinths of the 
chancel arch and the E. responds of the transept arches 
remain below the present bases, and show that all three 
arches were of two orders, inner supported on attached 
semi-columns and outer on detached shafts, one of whose 
bases still remains in the church. 

" Central Tower. — The Norman plinths of the chancel 
and transept arches are 3 feet 9 inches wide, while the walls 
above are only 2 feet 11 inches thick. Moreover, the out- 
sides of these plinths align with the outside faces of the 
side walls of the transepts and chancel. The natural con- 
clusion, that these plinths once bore walls 3 feet 9 inches 
thick, is in keeping with two further pieces of evidence. 
In the South transept the strip of walling 5 inches wide, 
most to the North on the inside of the East wall, is rougher 
than the rest, evidently hidden in the wall originally ; 
and, although the South tiebeam of the transept roof is 
close against the South wall, the North beam is six inches 
away from the North wall. This shows that when this 
transept was enlarged in the fourteenth century, the 
thicker walls were still standing. Greater height can have 
been the only reason for greater thickness, and the breaks 
in the clerestory walls show that a central tower at least 
as high as the clerestory existed when the latter was 
built. 

" Evidence for Stair Turret at North-west corner 
of Tower. — The block of masonry .on which the War 
Memorial is placed has been unexplained hitherto. The 
break in the North wall of the clerestory is directly 
above the respond of the arcade, and nearly 5 feet West 
of the break in the South wall. When the central tower 
was removed, the South half of the arch between the North 






18 OUNDLE'S STORY 

aisle and the transept was rebuilt, making the arch 2 feet 
wider and leaving its apex 1 foot North of the middle of 
the span. The North chamfer of the East respond of the 
arcade is continuous (instead of being broken by abacus) 
and the hoodmould on the North side of the arch ends 
abruptly over the respond ; which shows that a wall 
formerly projected northwards at this point. This solid 
block can only have enclosed a newel stair leading to the 
tower. The break on the North side of this block is where 
the West side of the newel came. The stair must have 
been entered from the North transept. It was built 
before the E.E. additions, but perhaps later than the 
central tower. 

" The Nave. — A nave with the West wall in line with 
the West walls of the aisles must have existed when E.E. 
aisles were built. Absence of bonding between the nave 
and the aisle walls shows that the nave was the earlier. 
Existing cruciform Norman churches have naves of about 
this size compared with their Eastern limbs. The walling 
in the spandrels of the nave arcades is contemporary with 
the clerestory, but the old nave walls must have been at 
least as high as the arcades and probably 3 feet higher. 
A consideration of the North-east corner of the South 
aisle shows that the nave walls were at least 1 foot higher 
than the side walls of the other three limbs. The nave is 
7 inches narrower and rather North of straight with the 
chancel. This indicates that it is earlier than the tower 
and the Eastern limbs. The only visible masonry of the 
nave (the West half of the masonry below the War 
Memorial and the South side of the West respond of the 
South arcade) shows stone of different character from the 
Norman walling and differently faced. The East wall of 
the nave (West face) went directly South from the break 
in tK- masonry below the War Memorial. There must 
have bee^> originally a small presbytery in the space now 
between the transepts, which accounts for the Norman 
tower and chancel being wider than the nave. If the 
tradition that iEthelwold rebuilt the church between 963 
and 984 has any sure foundation, there is no reason why 
the nave and presbytery should not have formed the church 
that he built." 



Ente 



THE PARISH CHURCH 19 



Entering our Parish Church with the above most care- 
ful and detailed notes in our hands, we shall have done 
more than grasp the structure of the building at the close 
of the twelfth century ; we shall be able to trace many of 
the marks of its development. 

If we look at the second diagram we shall see that in 
the thirteenth century, the South and North aisles were 
added, the chancel lengthened and the two chapels pro- 
vided. Some have thought that, although there was no 
North chapel to the original Norman church, a North 
chapel may have been added before the other develop- 
ments shown in the second diagram. This depends largely 
upon the date of the closed doorway in the North wall of 
the North chapel and of the string course under the West 
window of the North aisle. In the lengthening of the 
chancel three windows were inserted, two on the South 
and one on the North side, though their height was not 
that of the present. The bases of the pillars of the 
arches in the chancel have deep watermoulds and 
trefoiled heads appear in the windows and head of the 
piscina space — marks of the thirteenth century. The 
lancet window at the West of the South aisle is an 
evidence of earlier date than is to be found in the North 
aisle, with the possible exception of the string course 
already mentioned. 

In view of the above description of the Norman church, 
it is interesting to trace the height, on either side of the 
nave, of the spandrels in the arcade up to just below the 
clerestory, which was not added until the fourteenth 
century. Towards the close of that century the central 
tower either fell or was removed, and the chancel arch and 
the arches leading into the transepts were reconstructed. 
Mr. Hamilton Thompson places the date of this later 
alteration at about 1338, by reason of the close corre- 
spondence of the moulding of the arches to those at Cotter- 
stock, which can be fixed to that time. He suggests that 
the Black Death which followed some ten years afterwards 



20 OUNDLE'S STORY 

" probably postponed the building of the Western tower 
and spire." 

The tower and spire date from the close of the four- 
teenth or beginning of the fifteenth century. The height 
of the tower in comparison with that of the nave suggests 
that it may have been intended to heighten the nave. It 
is a great pity that when the tower was restored some 34 
years ago, the mouldings on the West front just above the 
base were not fashioned like the original mouldings which 
may be seen within the church. 

According to Leland's itinerary, we can fix the actual 
year of the erection of the South porch at 1485. He 
says :— 

" One Robert Viate a marchaunt of the towne there, 
and Johan his wife, made the goodly sowthe porche .... 
They made also on the south syde of that chirche yarde a 
praty almose house of squarid stone. And a goodly large 
haule over it for the Brotherhodde of the Chirch. At 
the West ende of the Chirche yarde, they made lodgings 
for too cantuarie Prestes, founded there by them. The 
scripture in brasse on the Almose house doore berith the 
date of the yere of Our Lorde, 1485, as I remembre. At 
the North West ende of Oundele chirch yard is the ferme 
or parsonage place impropriated to Peterborow. It is a 
V (£50) by yere. Peterborow was lord also of the town and 
now the King hath alloted it onto the Quene's Doure." 

The vestry of two storeys, to the North of the Sanctuary, 
is a Tudor erection. In the summer of 1908 a chamber 
was sunk outside the Vestry to the North to contain the 
boiler for the heating apparatus. A workman was picking 
some feet below the surface in order to make an aperture 
for the water pipes through the North wall of the Vestry, 
when he found, embedded in the middle of the wall a 
graceful two-handled earthenware drinking cup of the 
Tudor period. The cup contained no coins nor anything 
associated with the ceremony of the laying of a foundation 



THE PARISH CHURCH 21 

stone. Perhaps the workman's suggestion was right. 
The mason was thirsty, and having refreshed himself, 
placed his cup within the wall, saying : " Perhaps some 
one will find that some day." It has been found, and in 
very good preservation. We can imagine now the interior 
of our church towards the close of the fifteenth century, 
with its many altars and busy worshippers drawn not only 
from Oundle but also from surrounding parishes largely 
through the Guild founded by Robert Wyatt in the reign 
of Edward IV. 

It was common for Church folk, within quite recent 
memory, to speak of the South chapel as " Wyatt 's 
Chapel." It would be well if we could see it restored to 
something of its former glory as " The Guild Chapel," 
where Guilds, now separated into what are called 
" religious " and " secular " — a remarkable commentary 
both on space of time and thought — might meet once more 
for common worship and consecrate their gifts to God and 
each other as did their fathers of old. The wills of many, 
at the close of the fifteenth century, in Oundle and neigh- 
bourhood contain bequests both of material and money 
for the maintenance and support of their " Guild chapel." 
One lady, of whose family we shall be reminded later, 
Agnes Dobbs, left a sum of money " to the gyld of or 
blessyed lady for to make my ii husbands and myself 
bred rn and syst rn of the seid gyld." 

In addition to this Lady (or Guild) Chapel and Altar, 
there were the High Altar, the Chapel and Altar of the 
Blessed Trinity, the Chapel and Altar of St. John the 
Baptist, the Chapel and Altar of St. Edmund, the Chapel 
of St. Guthlac, and the Altar of St. Syth. Attached to 
these chapels were the members of the various callings and 
trades of the town and district, who realised here their 
unity in sacrament and prayer. Nor did they lack exhorta- 
tion as a congregation as the ancient pulpit bears witness. 
The late Dr. Beeching, Dean of Norwich, in his " Religio 
Laici " writes : — 



22 OUNDLE'S STORY 

' The Puritan has always had a very insufficient idea 
of the advantage likely to accrue from hearing sermons. 
But though one extreme may account for another, it does 
not justify it. If some of my younger brethren are 
tempted to think that preaching came in with the Re- 
formation, and may therefore be esteemed lightly, I 
would ask them to pay a visit to such churches as Burford 
or Oundle, where the pulpits date from the fifteenth 
century." 

This places upon the man in the pulpit a greater 
responsibility than should even be there normally and in 
the most modern of pulpits. 

Whether there is any truth in the tradition that the 
lectern came from Fotheringhaj^ I do not know. It would 
certainly appear to be pre-Reformation, and is well known 
by connoisseurs in the history of metal work. 

" Fine examples of the usual English type of eagle 
lectern may be seen, among many others too numerous to 
mention, in the churches of Holy Rood, Southampton ; 
St. Margaret, King's Lynn ; Holy Trinity, Coventry ; St. 
Peter, Oundle ; and St. Gregory, Norwich, which bears 
the date of 1496." * 

Having regard to the date of printing, and the story of 
the English Bible, we must not imagine the first purpose 
of the lectern to have been that for which it is used to-day. 
It would probably stand in the choir to hold the books 
from which the chanters chanted the sung portions of 
" The Hours." The ancient custom of placing the book- 
stand on the wings of an eagle comes from the symbolisa- 
tion of St. John's gospel by the eagle, which is so aptly 
illustrated in the window in memory of the late Mr. John 
Hume Smith on the South side of the chancel. 

Visitors to the church will find the following points of 
detail to interest them : Within : The pulpit, lectern, side 

* M Dinanderie — A History and Description of Mediaeval 
Art Work," by J. Tavenor-Perry. 



THE PARISH CHURCH 23 

screens dating from Richard II., consecration cross on West 
side of arch in Lady Chapel, the North chapel, in which 
Robert Browne was condemned, and which was previously 
a Consistory Court, the Laxton Chair, aumbreys in Lady 
Chapel and North transept, Vestry chest dated 1676. 
Without : The South Door, stone coffin in porch, mark of 
sundial on West side of South porch, North doorway 
which is older than the wall in which it is set. 



CHAPTER III 

A WALK ROUND IN 1565 

AFTER the death of Catherine Parr, the manor of 
Oundle and Biggin was given to the Right 
Honourable John Earl of Bedford, Lord Privy 
Seal, by letters patent dated January 26, 1550. In 
September, 1565, Thomas Austell, on behalf of the Lord 
of the Manor, with the assistance of Edmund Elmes and 
Oliver St. John, Esquires, Humphrey Michaell and Adam 
Smyth, Gents, made a survey of all the messuages, tene- 
ments, cottages, Burgages, arable lands, meadows, pastures, 
feedings, woods, underwoods, commons, etc., within the 
lordship or manor of Oundle and Biggin. Not only did 
they carry out this survey " upon sight " ; but they also 
examined " several persons and credible rent rolls and old 
evidences." 

It was certainly a thorough and most exhaustive 
survey, as the introduction shows the mind of the surveyors 
that it should be ; for it began thus : — 

" Foreasmuch as some men will say and hold an oppinion 
that survayes will not continue good to bring a man 
knowledge of the lands above twenty yeares, but that it 
ought to be renewed againe. And although that oppinion 
be true when surveys be unskillfully and unorderly 
made, yet that oppinion touching the order of this survey 
is not true, because this survey by this order following 
which I take in this booke will abide good for ever unless 
the whole towne shall happen to be decayed or burned 
(which God forbid) or else if a great Spinkelin decay of 

24 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 25 

the tenements of the towne happen to be made in many 
and sundry places and streets of the same or unless a 
man will for the nonce turne the fields of land into plaine 
grounds or else cast furlongs one way or else cast a dozen 
or twenty lands together throughout the field. The 
cause why this survey must continue is this, for example I 
begin at one end of the towne at a place certaine and tell 
which side of the house I goe in, house by house. I say 
the first house of that side in the tenure of such a man 
and telleth of what measure it is of length and breadth, and 
then the second house eastward of that in the tenure of 
such a man and telleth the measure thereof and so forth 
house by house in order, whether they hold of the lord of 
the manor or not as hereafter example telleth thee, so 
that by order and measure you shall attain the knowledge 
of every one that is holden of the lord either free, by copy, 
or by will and of all others admit that a great part of the 
tenements of the town were disordered and exchanged 
from the order of this book ; as if a man purchasing 
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 tenements in his own hands lying 
together and new build them and make them all in one 
front, whereas they were in many fronts whereby you 
cannot tell how thereof is holden free, by copy, or at will 
or how it is holden. Therefore the remedy is first to bring 
you to knowledge, first to go to the town with this book 
and begin to fetch the measure of all those tenements 
until you come to the tenements which are now so builded 
together and then by measure shall you set the same 
tenements now builded by this book in order again and 
say in the tenements cast together this many foot broad 
and long by copy by such a rent as this book shall show 
thee of. . . . " 

At this period the plan of the town was practically the 
same as to-day without Glapthorn Road, Benefield Road, 
and houses beyond the south end of St. Osyth Lane. There 
have been alterations in the naming of the streets. The 
whole main street now known as West Street and North 
Street was regarded as one and called by the name of High 
Street, New Street was then Bury Street, St. Osyth 

c 



26 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Lane (St. Sithe's Lane) was also known as Lark Lane, and 
the site of Jesus Church, with the houses to the West 
between Stoke Road and Benefield Road, was generally 
spoken of as " Chapel End." This last name was due to 
the fact that there stood formerly on a portion of the site 
a chapel called " St. Thomas of Canterbury's Chapel," 
which had — 

44 two half acres of land lying in two furlongs in Hill- 
field and one acre of meadow called the Harp lying in the 
Ow furlong in St. Sithe's meadow which land and meadow 
Michael Turke hath purchased under the title freehold of 
land meadow and pasture without houses." 

Leland, in his Itinerary (about 1530), says when he 
saw Oundle, this was now a private house, but there 
was a " large window to the East and West and on the 
North a large arch with a smaller one and pillars for a 
door." At the time of Mr. Austell's survey there were 
three houses upon the site of Chapel End, Mr. Philip 
Stockwell being the owner of that which stood upon 
the actual site of the former chapel, the other two 
being owned by Messrs. Michael Turke and Richard 
Bonner. 

From whom did Michael Turke purchase these 
lands ? It looks as though Henry VIII. received a certain 
portion of Guild and Church proceeds before his death as 
a result of the Act passed for the purpose in the last year 
of his life. The Protector Somerset's advisers reported — 

" there is a chapell of ese standing in the seyed 
towne coveryd w th leade, unoccupied, no lands thereto 
belonging, but the churche yard : and defacyd by the 
towne. Wherefore the Towneshippe requyrythe y* y* maye 
please the King's maiestie to take the same, and suffer 
the chappell at Ashton to stand in plaice of that. Also 
y* is to be considered and remembred that all the lands 
belonging to this Guilde ys very Ruynose housing, which 
wilbe to the King's great charge yereyle in repayring the 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 27 

same : and that all the resydew of the lands being in the 
same towne ys the Quene's grace during her lyffe, the 
revercon thereof in the King's maiestie ; and y* the 
same towne is a market towne, and f orasmuche as there 
hathe byne a free school kepte at Fotheringhay whiche 
is nowe dyssolved y* is therefore expedyent that there 
were a new erected in this towne of Oundell the same 
being w th in iii myles of Fotheringhay." 

If we follow the itinerary of this sixteenth century 
survey we see the plan of the town as I have just 
mentioned : — 

" 1 beginne this my survey and measure of the towne 
of Oundle at the West end of the same towne in an end 
there called Chapell End and at the easterne arch of a 
little stone bridge called Warren's bridge leading to 
Stoake and soe goe eastward on the South side of that 
towne house by house, both free and coppie and they 
stand in order unto a lane of that side called Mill Lane 
and then downe the Mill Lane on the one side and up 
againe on the other side and that done I goe up into the 
High Street again on the same South side and soe goe 
eastward house by house unto another lane called St. Sithes 
Lane otherwise called Lark lane and then down that 
lane on the one side and up againe on the other side and 
that donne I enter againe into the High Street on the same 
south side and soe goe eastward house by house through 
Jerico Lane and Ducke Lane until I come to the further 
end of that side of the towne almost to the North bridge 
and that ended I beginne with the North side of the same 
town at the said North bridge and at a lane next Dowell 
Wong Close and then come down the towne Westward on 
the same North side from the same line house by house by 
the church to Bury Streete leaving the shops and the stalls 
in the midst of the Streete and then down Bury Streete 
to Church Lane and after Church Lane then to Bury 
Street againe on the one side and up againe on the other 
side of the same Berry Streete and that donne into the 
High Street again untill I come to the further end of the 
said Chapell End all of that side and then I goe to the two 



28 OUNDLE'S STORY 

tenements and St. Thomas his chapell, all three standing in 
the midst of a streete in that end. ..." 

The sixteenth century description of the shops and 
stalls in the Market Place on either side of the site of the 
old Town Hall is well illustrated by a well-known print 
by the late Mr. Shillebeare. 

" These shops following are builded in a manner like 
a square pile and lye the next the cheefe crosse — that is, 
between that crosse, and the two long rows of stalls called 
the butchers' row, the one named the North row and the 
other the South row. In the square pile is builded these 
seven shops following. I begin on the middle end or 
house on the East end and so goe round shop by shop on 
the North side, West end, and South side to the common 
Bakehouse where I end." 

There are many residents in Oundle who remember the 
Butchers' Row or Shambles, built soon after 1825, which 
ran South and North from the Market Place to Church 
Lane between the Rose and Crown Inn and The 
National Provincial Bank. It is interesting to know 
that a " walled market " occupied this exact position in 
the sixteenth century, as the following memorandum made 
at this point in Mr. Austell's survey shows : — 

" Hereafter followeth several shops with chambers 
standing over them on this side of the street in the row and 
in the order of the houses and behind them was sometime 
a wall market and was made a yard to one of the Lord's 
tenements." 

It was not always that the Surveyor and the owner of 
property agreed as to the dimensions or rents of their 
holdings. For instance, a memorandum attached to the 
measurement of Richard Cliffe's property in High Street 
states : — 

" He claimeth and occupieth by colour of the general 
words of his said deed but hath not the four acres and a 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 29 

half land and the one acre meadow, but the particulars 
figured with the hand of the King's Surveyor, which was 
the ground to make the true patent upon is but a tenement 
and four acres and so one acre land and the acre meadow 
is concealed." 

Again, house No. 20 from the corner of Mill Lane on 
the South side of the High Street, was the property of 
Richard Barnwell, in the right of his wife Margaret, 
daughter and heiress of John Loftus : — 

" Now he claimeth to have with this cottage one acre 
of arable land lyeing in Strongland furlong in Hillfield 
which is now purchased as a cottage as appeth by the said 
particulars but the said cottage is purchased as a cottage 
without land of tenne yeares purchase ffor such houses as 
had land paid 22 yeares purchase. And therefore it should 
seeme to be his Lord's lands and soe it is sealed to the 
Lord's use as appeareth in this booke following." 

Again : — 

" He claimeth by his said deed of purchase to have 
1 acre 3 rods but the particulars made by Marsh, the 
King's Surveyor, there according to the recognitions of the 
most ancient men of the town of Oundle to the Commis- 
sioners of the King is but one acre and a half and therefore 
seasse 1 rood in the Lord's hand which he holdeth lying in 
Gorbroad furlong in the said Hillfield." 

These discrepancies are frequent. 

Following the surveyor's track round the town, we 
may note certain points of interest. We have a picture of 
the water mills at the bottom of Mill Lane, on the Barn- 
well boundary, in the following : — 

" Thomas Simpson holdeth under the corent seale of 
the late Monasterie of Peterborow dated the 23 d day of 
March in the 28 th yeare of the reigne of the late King 
Henrie the 8 th all those their two watermills of Oundle 
with their appurtenances. To have the same mills with 
the appurtenances to the said Thomas Simpson and his 



30 OUNDLE'S STORY 

assigns from Michaelmas last. ... A covenant that the 
said Thomas shall sufficientlie uphold repaire and maintain 
the said mill and mill dams floodgates and washes and the 
houses to the said mill belonging . . . there is a piece of 
great wast ground lyeing between the said mill and the 
said Back Lane called the Mill Yard." 

The house now called " The Waggon and Horses Inn " 
was then known as " The Bull." The Bull was then the 
property of Elizabeth Wells, wife of Simon Wells, but lately 
the relict of Humphrey Redborne. Mrs. Wells was also 
the owner of land as a freehold in Hillfield in a furlong 
there called " Waterfords." This had become freehold, 
but Mr. Austell adds a memorandum of interest thus : — 

" This was a mannor in Wakerlees' dayes and kept a 
Courte Baron upon the same which is now dismembred 
because the land is sold to diverse persons as appeareth in 
this booke in diverse places." 

Passing up the South side of the High Street — now 
West Street — we find the title of the site of one or two 
houses is claimed by the College of Fotheringhay, and an 
interesting historical reference occurs in the survey as 
follows : — 

" If question hereafter happen to come that Ffodringay 
land being colledge land ought not to pay free rent to 
Oundle mannor. Because Ffrodringray and Oundle were 
both the King's at one time. Truth is because Oundle was 
Queene Catherine's joynture at that time therefore was 
the said rent allowed to the said Lords the purchasers 
that the Queene should not lose her rent." 

Ship Lane — between " Cobthorne " and the house 
until recent years known as the Ship Inn — existed 
then as now and was called " Parva venella " — a little 
lane. The house then standing on the site of Cob- 
thorne (so named by the present owner after Cobthorne 
furlong in St. Sithe's field) was the property of John Emlin, 




A WALK ROUND IN 1565 31 

being numbered with a cottage 26 and 27 from Mill Lane. 
In addition to the cottage, it is described as " cum horreo, 
stabulo et divers aedifics et crofto de bona pastur adjac Jac 
insimul," i.e. " with barn, stable, and various buildings and 
a field of good pasture closely adjoining lying together." 

Four houses immediately preceding Bramston House 
were the property as life tenant of Margery then the wife 
of Randulph Robinson but lately the relict of Thomas 
Franklin : — 

" To hold the same to the said Margery for the term of 
her life and after the death of the same Margery then to 
the purpose and use of her two daughters called Margaret 
and Catherine and after to the death of their heirs then to 
the purpose and use of the executor of the said Thomas 
Franklin for a term of life of 67 years Paying to the poor 
of Oundle 205. per annum and after the end of the said 
term then as to one part of the same for the purpose of 
the executor of the said Thomas and as to the other part 
for the poor of Oundle in perpetuity." 

The latter bequest forms part of the Town Estates of 
the Feoffees of Oundle, who were allotted by the Enclosure 
Award in lieu of the premises two pieces of land containing 
la. 3r. 8p. and 11a. lr. 37p. On July 4, 1860, a portion 
of the latter, some 3 acres or thereabouts, was sold to the 
Oundle Burial Board for the purpose of the Oundle 
Cemetery, for the sum of £315. Thomas Franklin's will 
was dated May 12, 1544, twenty-one years before Mr. 
Austell's survey. Mr. Franklin was a weaver and had 
his shop, as stated above, near to the Market Cross, on 
the South side of the Market Place. The tenor bell of 
the Parish Church, which with other bells was cracked 
with fire in 1868, bears these words : — 

T *. EAYRE FECIT : — ON THE OLD BELL WAS THE 
FOLLOWING INSCRIPTION : THOMAS FRANKLIN PAID FOR 
ME — OF WHOSE SOUL IHU HAVE MERCE : THOMAS RAGSDALL 
& TOBY ROSE C.W. 1748. 



32 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Franklin directed that he should be buried " within 
St. John's aisle, before the image of St. John Evangelist, 
being within the parish church of Oundle," and being a 
member of " Our Lady's Guild " he left to it £2 a year 
to be paid for keeping his obit " within the same church." 

He bequeathed : — " Item, to the reparation of the bells 
within Oundle Church xii d ." He left his russet gown to 
one friend, his black gown to a second, and his sanguine 
gown to a third. To one person he left " 3 geere viz. a 
flaxen, harden, and a woolen," to another " a bastard's 
loom," and to a third " a broad loom." After other 
bequests — 

" Item I bequeath to Katherine my daughter £10 and 
2 pairs of flaxen sheets and 1 pair of harden sheets, 6 
pieces of pewter, that is to say, 2 pewter platters, 2 pewter 
dishes, and 2 pewter saucers, and my great spice chest, 
and my second greatest pot & my second greatest pan." 

In connection with the ancient guilds of Oundle, which 
possessed land in various parts of the parish, the following 
bequest, charged upon land at the back of Bramston 
House, is of interest : — 

" This was purchased as Guild land of Oundle and 
soe continued to this survay, and, at this survay found by 
evidence to be the Lord of this mannor and one parte of 
the evidence is a will that Dame Jane Wiote widdow lady 
of the mantle and ring, did by the same will dated the 
4 th of May, 1506 — anno 21 Henrici VII. regis — I will that 
my executors shall have my interest and terme of and in a 
close of St. Sithe's land which I hold of the monasterie of 
Peterboro by coppy of courte roll and the issues thereof 
shall be to the guild of Oundle upon condition that the 
Aldermen of the same Guild shall yearly upon good 
friday before service within Oundle church distribute to 
15 poore men and 15 poore women 2s. 6d. and the same 
poore men and poore women the sawter of our Lady." 

The fifteen of each sex were apparently to be bound, 
by the receipt of the benefaction, to recite Our Lady's 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 33 

psalter. This was an indefinite term applied sometimes 
to the " psalters " of which St. Anselm, St. Edmund of 
Canterbury, Stephen Langton, and others were compilers, 
poems in praise of Our Lady consisting of 150 strophes : 
sometimes to 150 aves ; sometimes, in late mediaeval 
times, to the rosary. The " psalter " being so composed, 
would easily be divided among the fifteen. The poor 
people probably soon lost their doles by the Act diverting 
Guild estates to the King. 

Peculiar interest attaches to the house, and cottage 
adjoining, standing on the site of the present Anchor 
Inn at the Eastern extremity of St. Osyth (St. Sithe's) 
Lane. John Cooke had become the owner from the Lord 
of the Manor at the time of Mr. Austell's survey. 

" by virtue of the hospital of John of Jerusalem in England 
and by deed of Robert Bullaine dated 20 th day of January 
in the 17 lh year of the reign of King Edward IV. . . . 
To hold the same for himself and his assigns in perpetuity 
paying annually to the Lord King by virtue of his Master- 
ship of the said Hospital . . . one penny." 

This latter fact explains the meaning of the crowned 
lion, which troubles visitors to Oundle, torn from the Royal 
Arms of that time and now fixed as a separate figure over 
the door of the cottage adjoining the Anchor Inn. Though 
he has lost a leg, he has still his tail up and his crown on to 
assert his previous attachment to Royalty. Additional 
interest is given to this figure by reason of the fact that 
in November, 1564, only a few months previous to Mr. 
Austell's survey, this cottage and several adjoining were 
sold by Sir Thomas Tresham, " de Rushdon in comitat 
Northampton," father of Francis Tresham of Gunpowder 
Plot fame, who had been the owner previous to that time. 
Why did Sir Thomas sell this property ? We know that 
this property belonged at one time to the Knights of St. 
John of Jerusalem. Tresham's grandfather was appointed 
by Queen Mary, in the last year of her reign, Lord Prior 



34 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of the Order. There is, to the memory of Tresham the 
Prior, in Rushton Church a monument which is said to 
be the only one of its kind in England. It is an altar 
tomb in alabaster and marble, the recumbent figure is 
life-size and clad in the habit of Lord Prior. 

" On the west side of the tomb is a shield of arms, and 
over all is an escutcheon of pretence, containing ten coats. 
Four of these coats — Ross, Parr, Fitzhugh, and Marmion — 
were borne by Catherine Parr, the consort of Henry VIII., 
and these appear on the shield of Sir Thomas Tresham's 
wife, who was daughter to Lord Parr." 

Thomas Tresham only enjoyed the office of Lord 
Prior for a year before his death. It seems probable that 
either Tresham held this property in St. Sit he's Lane 
on behalf of the Knights of St. John, or that, being his 
own private possession, the grandson saw no point in 
retaining it now that the connection with the Order had 
been severed by his grandfather's death. 

The footway to the south of the house now called or 
known as The Berrystead — now the property of 
Oundle School — was then called Duck Lane, and at the 
bottom stood two cottages with gardens owned by John 
Fletcher. 

Next door to the house now called Laundimer 
House — another boarding house of Oundle School — 
stood two houses owned by Henry Hilton which were 
soon to pass into the hands of William Silbye, and upon 
that site Nicholas Latham, of whom we shall hear soon, 
in another forty-five years was to build his almshouse 
and school. 

The lane now called Black Pot Lane was, in the 
sixteenth century, Dwell Wong Lane or Dowell Wong 
Lane. 

The Survey does not give a full description of the 
Rectory, but speaks of the " mansion " and outbuildings 
and describes the four houses then standing between the 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 

Rectorial Manor House and the front gates. It is also 
careful to mention the way or easement, leading between 
the manor house and the four houses, from the main 
street as it is to-day. The Survey especially wishes it 
" to be noted " that the Rector — the advowson being not 
included in the letters patent to the Lord of the Manor 
but " resigned in the King's hands — holds in various 
fields and meadows in the parish 66 acres or thereabouts 
under the name and sub-title of " parsonage gleabe. Note 
this parsonage impropriated is letten to this day for 
£15 135. 4d." Sixty-six acres of land were duly allotted 
to the Vicarage by the Parish Award of 1807. 

" Churchyarde and Church is the next and extendeth 
in length from the said tenement in the tenure of Nicholas 
Desboro" (that is the southernmost of the four houses 
mentioned above) " unto the late Guildhall now made a 
Schoolehouse which adjoyneth the churchyard on the 
north." 

" The late Guildhall [which measured 72 feet by 38 
feet] of our Lady of Oundle being a very faire hall builded 
with freestone, and now purchased by one Mr. Laxton 
four times Maior of London and is now made a free schoole- 
house and lands by him is given for the maintenance of a 
schoolemaster there and the same lyeth between the 
churchyard on the north cont : in length on that side 
4 pches 6 feete and between the Lord's customary tenement 
called the crowne [known later as the Three Tuns] in the 
tenure of Henry Chawthorne on the south cont : on that 
side 4 pches 6 pedes abbut : upon the corner of that 
Streete east cont : at the end and the west est at either 
of them 21 pches 12 feete and Note the lands of that 
Guild 22 a r - IP- and soe purchased." 

We shall see that a school was actually in being in 
the Guildhall before the generous thought and act of 
William Laxton made greater things possible. The 
Commissioners of Somerset the Protector in their report 
say:— 



36 OUNDLE'S STORY 

" Also there ys one house callyd the Guild House worth 
by the yere to be lett XII | under which there is inhabiting 
VII pore wydowes rent free, the upper parte of which 
house ys verye mete for a scole." 

As the Surveyor turns round from the Market Place 
(although that term is not used) into Bury Street he notes 
the stocks. 

" The Lord's Stock house and cage for punishment of 
offenders standeth at the corner at the west parte of the 
said tenem* adj : the high crosse their and lyeth in 
Burystreete cont : 12 foote and abbuts upon the South 
head cont : in breadth 6 foote." 

At a later date the stocks were removed to the west of 
the present site of Jesus Church. Until fifty years ago 
or less that area was generally designated as " The Stocks." 
To " run round the stocks " was a frequent pastime of 
several living parishioners in their youth. 

At the north-east corner of Church Lane we reach the 
site of the original schoolmaster's house, now the junior 
physics lab. of Oundle School. The sixteenth- century 
Surveyor describes it thus : — 

" A messuage or tenement some time used for the 
private chambers of the Guild of our blessed lady at 
Oundle being well builded and now purchased by one 
Mr. Laxon mayor of London and is made a lodging for 
the schoolmaster of the free schoole and the same messuage 
lyeth between the churchyard vers, orient containing in 
length on that side 6 pches 9 feete and betweene the free 
tenement of Richard Moreton vers. Occident containing 
on that side 6 pches 9 feete abbutting upon the said 
church lane vers, austr : containing by estimacon on that 
end 6 pches and upon a garden of a stripe of land of the 
lord's in the tenure of Richard Moreton called the horse 
market lyeing in Burystreete vers, boreal cont : at that 
end one perch 2 foote." 

Returning into Bury Street along the north side of 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 37 

Church Lane we reach the King's Head at the corner and 
here My Lord's agent carefully notes : — 

" It appeth that this tenement called the hart's head 
hath not paid of any long time any more of the free rent 
but 4s. therefore of necessitie that Mr. Rudstone's ten* 
Thomas Rippon's ten* and other tenem 1 ' w ch be in 
church lane doth abbut upon the hart's head ought to pay 
the other 4s." 

We pass the Horse Market and come to the Vicarage. 
The Vicarage is described, as the Rectory was, as a 
" mantio," not because it was, or is, a particularly large 
house but with a correct technical application. One 
meaning of the word " mansio " is a " residence provided 
for an ecclesiastic," which is especially applicable to Oundle 
Vicarage. In Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions in 1559, 
only six years before Mr. Austell's survey, we read : — 
" All Parsons, Vicars, and Clarkes having Churches, 
chappels or Mansions within this Deanerie." A memo- 
randum confirming what we have said elsewhere as to the 
Rectory and " Vicarage " is added most usefully thus : — 

" I finde in an old rentall of parchment made in the 
21 st year of the reigne of King Edward the fourth that this 
viccaridge house was a tenem* of William Baker's wh : he 
held of the abbot of Peterboro' and paid by yeare 35. 4d. 
and the same tenement containeth in length by that deede 
75 foote and in breadth 31 foote. I find also in that 
rentall that William Harrycott held a parcel of the lord's 
garden of this mannor house of Buristeede there con- 
taineth in length 30 foote and paid therefore by yeare 
2/- which parcell is also now annexed to the said viccaridge 
next the lord's garden and cont : as much as is inclosed 
as lyeth to the streete from the corner wall of the viccaridge 
in the lord's garden and there shutteth in againe in a 
corner and soe now this William Baker's ten* : and the 
lord's garden is made a viccaridge by a composicon by 
the abbot of Peterboro wh I have seene at this survay 
at the hands of the Viccar." 



38 OUNDLE'S STORY 

It will be seen that the present Vicarage — indeed the 
only one — stands upon land derived from two titles. 
This must be, after 550 years, the explanation of an 
anomaly which neither rating nor taxing authorities have 
hitherto been able to explain. The Vicarage house and 
garden — as much allied as any house and garden ever 
were — are rated separately to this very day. Govern- 
ments come and governments go, but officialdom 
remains. 

To the north of the Vicarage, as disclosed by the above 
description, on the site of the extended portion of the 
Churchyard, was a portion of the lord's garden or the 
garden of the Bury Stead (or Burgh Stead). The site 
of the Bury Stead itself was facing the street at the north- 
west corner and to the extreme west of the present 
Rectory garden. A portion of the wall which marks the 
eastern limit of the Berrystead is still standing in the 
Rectory garden and is roughly in a line with the present 
eastern boundary wall of the Vicarage garden. The 
house now conventionally called The Berrystead, 
situate in North Street, became the property of Mr. 
Whitwell early in the seventeenth century. Mr. Whitwell 
was owner of very extensive property and land in the 
parish, including land of the lord of the manor's original 
" demesne of Berrystead " to the east of the house now 
so called. After the original Burghstead in Bury Street 
fell into disuse for its purpose and decay, it became 
natural to transfer the name to the house which was 
near to the Burghstead lands and was owned by one who 
was also owner of a portion of those lands. 

In 1565 the tenant at will of the Earl of Bedford, of 
the Burghstead was Oliver St. John, Esquire, no doubt 
a relative of the first Baron St. John of Bletsoe, who had 
then just been created a peer. Mr. St. John, as repre- 
senting the lord of the manor, was one of the supervisors 
of Mr. Austell's survey. The description of the house 
seems to call up a picture of feudal days. 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 39 

" The house called the Bury Stead contains a General 
Hall with cook house adjoining and several little garrets 
under one roof, a tiled stable, and the malthouse thatched 
with straw and the site with premises of the same contain 
1 acre 3 roods 8 perches." 

After the house fell into decay, or became obsolete 
for its purpose, some cottages were built thereon. In 
October, 1889, there died in the Laxton Hospital, at 
the age of 107, one Stephen Coles, who remembered from 
his early boyhood his father pulling down these cottages. 
The site of the debris of these cottages is marked by a 
mound in the Rectory garden. Very early in the nine- 
teenth century the then owner of the Rectory effected an 
exchange with Sir Isaac Pocock, lord of the manor, of 
another piece of land for this site of the Burghstead, which 
became enclosed within the Rectory garden. But we 
must return to the sixteenth century; and crossing to 
the east side of the street we come to the Tabret — the 
Talbot as we know it — whose name has been revived 
recently in the opening of the Tabret Room. Of this 
change of name we will speak later. The Talbot Lane 
(so called in the Parish Award of 1811, and leading from 
the hotel yard to Milton Lane, so called in 1655), existed 
at the time of Mr. Austell's survey as " a right of way over 
Mr. Dobbs' close." 

" Here is a lane at the yard's end of this tenement or 
Inne wh : said Inne hath out of John Dobbs' close follow- 
ing and for the easement of that lane for gests to come 
in to and from the common field with carts horses and 
cattle. The Guild paid for that easiament to the said 
Dobbs and to such persons as did own that tenem* and 
close 2** by yeare and yet Dobbs and his ten* of his 
house to have easiament with passage to and from the 
field and at the pchse of the Guild land the king did alow 
the 2/- to the pchasers in the particulars to be paid to 
Dobbs w h particulars the king's surveyor Mr. Marsh of 
that shire made by the pfmt of the chiefest men of Oundle." 

The family of Dobbs retained the ownership of this 



40 OUNDLE'S STORY 

close certainly for more than a century and the yard, or 
well yard now known as Drumming Well Yard, was for 
a very long time known as Dobbs' Yard. Leaving Bury 
Street and turning into High Street we find that the 
fourth house walking westward towards Chappell End 
belonged to Margaret Gibson. In connection with this 
house, the Surveyor gives, as an addendum, a short 
abstract of title of three lines which is of great interest 
as it explains most probably the origin of the term " Bas- 
sett " as applied to the part of Oundle beyond St. Osyth 
Lane. Margaret Gibson's house was acquired in the reign 
of Henry IV. by one Bassett and passed from Bassett to 
Grimly n — thence to Taylor — Thurlby — Baker — Gibson. 
This Bassett may have been descended from " the great 
justiciar " Ralph Basset, who was raised to prominence 
by Henry I., and who gave his name to Sutton Basset on 
the borders of Leicestershire and founded the Baronial 
house of " Basset of Weldon." The survey makes no 
mention of the Drumming Well, but notes the existence 
of the well yard : — 

" The Well Yard being within the breadth and length 
of the said tenement is appointed and accepted to the 
said tenem* of William Miller and the same well-yard 
cont : in length 5 pole and in breadth at the south end 
15 feete and at the north end 12 feete." 

We may be permitted to speak here fully of this well. 
In the Leisure Hour for November, 1878, an article 
on " Folklore about Wells " contains the following 
paragraph. 

" Among other superstitions connected with wells, 
we may mention that in Northamptonshire the well at 
Oundle was said to drum against any important event." 
Baxter in his " World of Spirits," says : — 

" When I was a schoolboy at Oundle, about the time 
of the Scots coming into England, I heard a well, in one 
Dobs' yard, drum like any drum beating a march. I 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 41 

heard it at a distance ; then I went and put my head into 
the mouth of the well, and heard it distinctly, and nobody 
in the well. It lasted several days and nights, so as all 
the country people came to hear it. And so it drummed 
on several changes of tune. When King Charles the 
Second died, I went to the Oundle carrier at the Ram Inn, 
in Smithfield, who told me their well had drummed, and 
many people came to hear it. And I hear it drummed once 
since." 

No. 218 of The London Chronicle or Universal Evening 
Post, for Saturday, May 20, to Tuesday, May 23, 1758, 
contained two paragraphs under the heading of Country 
News, one of which was : — 

" Northampton, May 22. The remarkable drumming 
well at Oundle, in this county, which has been silent 
several years, now seems again to claim the attention of 
the publick, by its repeated signals, began on Saturday, 
the 13th instant, which are look'd upon by many super- 
stitious people as a prediction of some great events near 
at hand." 

Moreton, who paid a great deal of attention to this 
phenomenon, noted that the — 

" well is digged on the side of a Hill. The depth of it 

39 Foot, 3 inches ; but in common computation about 

40 Foot. The Spring that supplies the Well, comes in 
thro : Sand, which is found in a fissure or intervall, on 
the side of a Stratum of Stone, at the bottom of the well. 
This fissure seems to be about 12 inches in depth, a spit 
that was thrust into the sand having gone down to that 
depth. When the well was empty'd and cleans d in the 
month of November, some years ago, the Spring came in 
very slowly, sometimes it arose in bubbles. The water is 
commonly thought as clear, and reputed as wholesome, 
when the Spring is attended with that drumming noise 
as at other times. The noise is sometimes so loud as to be 
heard in places sixty yards distant from the well. Its 
beats or strokes, as to space of time are generally well 
nigh equidistant one of another. How many beats there 



42 OUNDLE'S STORY 

are in a quarter of an hour or in any other determinate 
space of time, I was not so curious as to observe. [More- 
ton's observations extended over eight years, 1700-1708.] 
The noise or sound at first is less loud, becomes louder by 
degrees, and then abates again to a softer noise, as at the 
first." 

Mr. Beeby Thompson, sen., still one of Northampton- 
shire's best geologists, had " no doubt that the explana- 
tion of the drumming was due to air being expelled from 
compression from rock crevices into the well, through a 
water seal, periodically in bubbles." * 

But we must rejoin our friend Mr. Austell. He had 
previously referred to the right of road from the Tabret 
Yard to the north leading to Milton Lane. He now calls 
attention to the right of way to and from the Tabret Yard 
and High Street — 

" here is a lane taken forth of the est side of that close 
both for his Easem* and the easement of the said Inne 
called the Tabret in to and from the common field with 
their cattle, &c. and the Aldermen of the guild of our 
Lady at Oundle compounded with the said Dobbs' ancestors 
to give the 2 shillings per annum for the said easiament to 
the Tabret w h is allowed by the king to the purchasers of 
the guild land to be paid yearly to the said Dobbs or to 
the owners of the said tenement." 

Here is a note to property near to the present Cross 
Keys, which reads very much like a modern directory : 
" the said land adjoining was some time parte of the pond 
and willows in the same, is occupied by the said tenant — 
looke more for this in Mill Lane in the Entryes there upon 
Johan Turke." 

The owner of one of the three houses in Chappell End 
in the sixteenth century was John Chapman. He held it 
from the Rector of Oundle under a deed of conveyance 
from Hugh Law and Thomas Law, dated the 15th day of 
April in the seventh year of King Edward the Sixth. It 

* "Northamptonshire's Notes and Queries." 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 43 

was formerly part of the property of the College of Fother- 
inghay. Hugh Law was Lord of the Manor of Ashton 
and owner of the field on the east side of the North 
bridge, now the property of the Trustees of Creed's 
Charity and still called " Law's Holme." 

Members of the Oundle Golf Club will recognise the 
following : — 

" Henry Henson of the lord by copy for a quarre of 
stone and a lyme kilne to make lyme of the same stone 
the short lees at the north end of the said furlong called 
lyme kilne lees which lyeth between the high way to 
Brickstock and the lord's wood called Pexley." 

We have mentioned the name of Basset as probably 
giving his name to a portion of Oundle. The names 
of Wakerley, Bonner, and others recorded by Mr. Austell 
are in frequent use to-day. " Dodmore," " Pexley 
Field," " Hill Field," etc., were frequently on the lips of 
sixteenth-century Oundelians. On the other hand, we 
hear of " Strangland," which should be " Strongland," 
" Cherry Mill," which should be " Jeremie Hill," etc. 

There were a few houses lying away from the town, and 
these are duly enumerated as well as the Common Fields 
and the Lord's Wood. The woods are referred to as 
Pexley Wood, Parke Wood, Hill's Wood, Little Lane, and 
South Wood. The woods seem to have been neglected 
at that time — e.g. " all the oakes in the wood of Oundell 
when they come to 12 or 15 foote high they grow to a broad 
topp immediately the underwood indifferent well sett 
with sallo and oake much hazell and very much thornes." 

There are to-day in Oundell a few copies of a very crude 
block drawing of the Parish Church , upon which the 
Church is described as dedicated in the name of 
St. Lawrence. This is probably due to the fact that a 
faire was regularly held on St. Lawrence's Day. This 
fair was one of two new fairs granted by the Earl of Bed- 
ford, the lord of the manor, tfre other being kept on 



44, OUNDLE'S STORY 

St. Valentine's Day. By a strange coincidence these words 
are being written on St. Valentine's Day, but we have heard 
of no horse fair. Eighty years ago, so great was the 
business done on this day that no children were allowed 
to leave their homes for fear of accident. The fair on 
Whitsun Monday, now also extinct, was described in 1565 
as being " of antiquitie." The profits of tolls of this fair 
were set down by Mr. Marsh " at four and twenty shillings, 
and the two new faires yieldeth yearly for the toll what 
may be gotten." In addition to these principal fairs 
there was also a weekly market held each Saturday, the 
tolls of the same amounting to 8s. This was chargeable 
upon all " horse, all kinds of cattle, of pedlers, of chapmen, 
glovers, tanners and such like but no tole of come." The 
lord of the manor still holds the market rights. The 
lordship or manor of Oundle and Biggin was formerly 
a liberty within itself, and the bailiff of the lord of the 
manor served all manner of process and not the sheriff's 
bailiff. There was a custom or tax on Colchester ale, and 
as the number of brewers was fewer the tax was raised 
from 2d. to 4d. apiece to make up the deficiency in in- 
come. The right to levy land tax and pownage also 
appears to have been included in the letters patent from 
the Crown. The latter tax was on all " persons that have 
hoggs, and the same persons as have hoggs may not keep 
them in the lord's wood there Parke Wood, which is 
severall alwaies but in all other of the lord's wood there 
they may go as it be seaven years after every sale of the 
same wood except the Parke Wood before excepted." 
The reference to this tax of pownage recalls the fact that, 
in Mr. Austell's day, the osier bed by the brook beyond 
the meadow adjoining Warren's Bridge on the south was 
called " Triangle Pigheel." There would appear to have 
been the right for the parishioners to pasture cows on 
Kiln Lees and Damhead Close. We must now say " Good- 
bye " to Mr. Austell, but we shall not forget the picture he 
has given us of Oundle in the sixteenth century. 



A WALK ROUND IN 1565 



45 



Freeholders of Oundle in 1565. 



Edmund AbelL* 
William AbelL* 
Edward Algan. 
Edward Barber. 
Richard Barnwell. 
Thomas Brudenell, 
Henry Cathorne.* 
Thomas Cathorne 
John Chapman 
Thomas Clarke. 
Richard Clyffe 
John Cooke. 
Alexander Cuthbert.* 
Nicholas Desborough.* 
John Dobbs. 
Philip Dobbs. 
John Emlin.* 
William Eston.* 
William Everell.* 
John Fisher. 
Richard Fletcher. 
William Fletcher. 
John France.* 
William Frockingham, 
Margaret Gibson 
Michael Henryson. 
Richard Henryson. 
Henry Hilton.* 



John Hutch. 
John Loftus.* 
Sir Walter Mildmay. 
William Miller.* 
Richard Moreton.* 
Robert Moreton.* 
Richard Palmer. 

(of Stoke), 
Nicholas Perkins, 
Thomas Power.* 
Thomas Pratt. 
Phillippa Redborne, 
Richard Rippon.* 
Thomas Rippon. 
James Riseley.* 
Randulph Robinson.* 
Margery Robinson, 
Robert Rudstone 
Richard Sellers. 
Thomas Simpson.* 
John Smith. 
Philip Stockwell. 
Robert Stringer. 
Michael Turke.* 
John Ward. 
John Wawles. 
Elizabeth Wells. 
Simon Wells. 



Francis Angell. 
Alice Angell. 
Margaret Billing. 
Richard Bonner. 
John Clement. 



Copyholders. 



Thomas Dawson. 
Johanna Dexter. 
John Fletcher. 
Thomas Griffin. 
Lawrence Henryson, 



Also held Copyhold Property. 



46 



OUNDLE'S STORY 



Copyholders — continued. 



Peter Henryson. 
Henry Henson. 
Robert Henson. 
Hugo Hodges. 
John Hodges. 
Peter Jackson. 
Johanna Lyon. 
Gilbert Martindale. 
Robert Masse. 
Richard Medcaife. 
John Medowes. 



Bridget Miller. 
John Moreton. 
Robert Norris. 
Bridget Power. 
Susanna Power. 
John Reynolds. 
William Rippon. 
Giles Rowe. 
Johanna Turke. 
Edward Webster. 



Tenants at Will of the Lord of the Manor. 



Thomas Cotton. 
John Lyram. 



Richard Rippon. 
Oliver St. John. 



CHAPTER IV 

A GREAT FOUNDER 

THE large number of altars and chapels, together 
with the frequent attendance of worshippers in 
the Parish Church, necessitated a large staff of 
clergy. In 1526 there were five clergy in addition to the 
Vicar. David Newton, the first Vicar, who was appointed 
in 1481, was followed in 1503 by John Ranwyke. His 
successor, Humphrey Morice, was instituted on January 8, 
1517-18. There was a subsidy or tax levied on the clergy 
in 1526 by Cardinal Wolsey, and under the returns of the 
Diocese of Lincoln the clergy (with stipends and tax of 
Oundle) are shown as following : — 

Oundell. 

Mag: Umfridus Moryce, Vicar. Received ... £13 6 8 

Deduct : Payment to Sir William Morice — • 

chaplain ... ... ... ... ... 16 8 

Tax ^th payable 
Assistant Clergy : — 

Sir William Morice ^th . 
Sir William Ierland 
Sir Thomas Butteler 
Sir Ralph HyU ... 
Sir Robert Wilkynson . 

Mr. Morice was evidently a man of accommodating 
disposition, his principles could be made to suit, for he 
held the living from 1517 until his death at the close of 
1565, i.e. practically all through the Reformation, the 
reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and well into 

47 





... 




... 


12 
1 



4 


£1 
£5 
£5 
£4 
£4 


6 
6 
6 




81 

8 

8 






bax payable 

95 


1/9 i 

VH 

7/1* 

5/4 

5/4 



48 OUNDLE'S STORY 

that of Elizabeth. It seems likely that he also imparted 
this same spirit into his assistant clergy. Thomas Butteler 
at the age of seventy received a grant from the Guild of 
Our Lady of £5 6s. 8d. in 1550, when he is described as 
" unmete to serve a cure and hath no other lyving." Pre- 
sumably he retired on this pension. William Ierland had 
held the double office of assistant curate and teacher of 
the Guild School held in the Guildhall before that hall was 
purchased by the man of whom we are to tell in this chapter. 
Ierland appears to have held the office of schoolmaster 
until 1554, when he would be eighty-two years of age. 
Probably Sadler, shortly to be mentioned, assisted him 
in the last few years. 

It was Mr. Morice who just before his death showed to 
Mr. Austell the agreement of 1477, under which he was 
established as Vicar in the Vicarage in Bury Street. He 
was buried in the chancel of the Parish Church. 

In January, 1559, two members of a well-known Ashton 
family, Henry Hayles, yeoman, and Henry Hayles, 
husbandman, had been found guilty of Use majeste and 
rebellion, but were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth. We like 
to imagine that Mr. Morice urged the Earl of Bedford, lord 
of the manor, to use his influence on their behalf. The 
name " Hayles of Ashton" continues in our parish registers 
well on into the seventeenth century. In 1631 William 
Hayles of Ashton died possessed of considerable property 
in that parish, which he had purchased from Hugh Lawe, 
and Thomas Lawe, and left it to his son William Hayles. 

At the end of the gangway in the North transept of 
the Parish Church there is a heavy oak chair, cut into the 
head of which is the inscription : — 

SVMPTV APQMATOnaAON 
LONDTNENSIUM A.D. 1576: 

This union of Latin and Greek is to inform us that the 
chair was provided at the expense of the " Sellers of 




p. 48 



THE LAXTON CHAIR IN NORXH TRANSEPT 



A GREAT FOUNDER 49 

Spices " of London in the year 1576 ; evidently as a chair 
in which the headmaster of Sir William Laxton's School was 
to sit when, on a Sunday, he took the scholars to church. 
It was difficult to find a Latin word in which to compress 
" the Wardens and Commonalty of Grocers." When 
many visitors to Oundle hear of the Grocers' Company's 
School in Oundle they show a very slight knowledge, if any, 
of the great guild movement of the past. There can be few 
towns in England whose story provides better opportunity 
for catching the spirit of this movement than that of 
Oundle, which has from early days been connected both 
with the work and usefulness of the provincial Guild, as 
we have already seen, and also of the great companies of 
the city of London, of which the Grocers' Company holds 
the second place. If visitors to Oundle will look up to the 
eastern gable of the great hall of Oundle School they will 
see a statue of St. Anthony, who was the founder of lay 
monastic orders, and whose disciples earned their own 
living as traders. They extended their trading establish- 
ments from Egypt and Constantinople through Lombardy 
to England, and there is reason to believe that the quay 
or wharf known in later times as the Steelyard was 
originally a monastery of the lay monks of St. Anthony, 
and that those monks are meant by the term " Merchants 
of the Steelyard." These merchants of the steelyard paid 
toll to the king in kind, the toll being a certain quantity of 
pepper. They are also called " Easterlings," which pro- 
bably meant " Men of the East." The " Pepperers " 
and " Spicers " of London were the English trading repre- 
sentatives of the Brethren of St. Anthony in the thirteenth 
and fourteenth centuries. In the reign of Edward III. 
the Pepperers and their trade allies, who weighed by 
avoirdupois, elected the keeper of the great beam of the 
king, at which the pesograsso, or merchants' pound of fifteen 
ounces, was used. On May 9, 1345, the Pepperers, who 
had lately suffered great reverses as traders, held a meeting 
to continue their connection as the social and religious 



50 OUNDLE'S STORY 

fraternity of St. Anthony and adopted St. Anthony as their 
patron saint. The objects of the fraternity were stated 
to be " for greater love and unity " and " to maintain 
and assist one another." Among the early members of the 
" mistery " (from ministerium) were three parsons, namely, 
Sir John de Londre, parson of St. Anthony ; Sir John de 
Hichan, parson of St. Anthony ; and Sir Simon de Wy, 
parson of Bertes. In 1376 an ordinance of the Grocers' Com- 
pany was passed whereby it became permissible to admit 
those of other misteries by common consent and entrance 
fee of £10. A complaint to the King, that " Les Marchantz 
nomez Grossers engrossent toutes maneres de marchandises 
vendables " — " the merchants called Grossers engrossed all 
manner of merchandise vendible " — shows that they 
were general merchants. In 1373 the records show 
the title of the company to be no longer that of the 
"Fraternity of St. Anthony," but the Company of 
Grossers. We have previously mentioned the Act 
of Parliament in the last year of Henry VIII., 
whereby the property of the religious guilds passed 
to the Crown, and amongst them that of the Guild 
in Oundle which formed so important a part of the re- 
ligious life of the town. The object of those guilds was 
to support the brethern of the guild, the burial of the dead, 
and the performance of religious services, remembrance of 
the departed in prayer, and an annual festival with 
collection of alms for the poor. Insults offered to a 
member of the guild by another member were duly 
punished, and any who did not fulfil their obligations were 
expelled. The local religious guild was suppressed, but 
the City of London Guild lived on probably because of the 
wealth and prominence of its members. 

The Grocers' Company became incorporated by royal 
charter in the reign of Henry VI., and in the same reign 
received the exclusive right of " garbling " throughout all 
places in the kingdom of England except the city of 
London. " Garbling " was the cleansing or examining of 



A GREAT FOUNDER 51 

spices, drugs, etc., to detect and prevent adulteration. 
The first garbeller was Thomas Halfmark, a grocer. 
Towards the end of the seventeenth century the Company's 
right of garbling fell into desuetude and in 1687 this right 
of the Company was granted by them to a Mr. Stuart for 
life on payment of £50 and 205. a year. In 1689 King 
William III. took upon himself the office of Master of the 
Company for the year. No doubt the City banquets of 
which we hear to-day are reminiscent of the feasts of 
rejoicing when the merchant of centuries back bade his 
neighbours rejoice with him on the occasion of the safe 
return of his ship from the East. There was no Lloyds 
Shipping Register in those days, and the merchant venturer 
knew not of its probable return, until it had safely reached 
the Thames once more. 

This is a sketch of the early history of the Company of 
which an Oundle lad, William Laxton, son of John Laxton, 
of humble birth, was to become master and to whom he 
entrusted the destinies of the great school he was to 
found. As a boy Laxton found his way to London, where 
he was successful, holding the office of Master of the Grocers' 
Company no less than five times, and becoming Lord 
Mayor in 1544. 

Oundle lads by birth should treasure this extract 
from Stow's " Survey of London " : — 

" At this Court, 27th October, 1545, my Lorde Mayor 
brought in and delyvered here in the Court to the handes 
of Mr Chamberleyn the Coler of Esses lately given to the 
Cittie by Sir John Aleyn, Knight and Alderman, to be used 
alwayes and worne by the Lord Mayer of the Cittie for 
the tyme being." 

This " coler " is still worn by the Lord Mayor of London. 
Other wearers of the Collar of Esses do so by right of 
their office — the Lord Chief Justice and others. The Lord 
Mayor wears it on account of this legacy, and the first 
Lord Mayor to wear it was the Oundle lad William Laxton. 



52 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Sir William Laxton made his will on July 22, 1556. 
He gave — 

" To the poore within the Spitall of Saynt Bartholomew 
in West Smythfield and Christ's Hospital two hundred 
pounds ... to the poo* prisoners within Ludgate xx*. to 
the poore prisoners within Newgate xl% . . to the poore w* h n 
every of the Counters xx\ . . to the poore prisoners with 
the Kings Bench xl\ And to the pore prisoners w^n 
the Marshalsye xl*. And I will the several somes before 
given to the poore prisoners shall be bestowed in Breade. 
I give to the Company of the Grocers to make them a 
dynner at my bury all tenne pounds." 

To an apprentice in whom he was interested he left 
£200. To no less than fifty-eight persons he bequeathed 
" black gowns." Included in these were forty poor persons 
to wear them on the day of his burial. The Lord Mayor 
of London, the Sword Bearer, Sir Thomas and Lady White, 
Sir Robert Broke, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and 
others. He did not forget his relations left behind in the 
neighbourhood of his old home. He left legacies to the 
four children of William Laxton of Gretton, and to each of 
the eight children of Robert Laxton of Gretton, and to any 
child of Thomas (eldest son of Robert) who might be born 
after his (Sir William's) death. Widow Christian Webster 
of Oundle receives £10, and William Abell, whose name will 
be found in the list of Freeholders, is to have a mourning 
ring of the value of £10. After other legacies to his step- 
children and others, he leaves his estate to Lady Laxton 
for her life, and after her death his property in the county 
of Hertford to his step-son Nicholas Luddington ; his 
property in Suffolk and Essex to his step-daughter Anne 
Lodge, wife of Alderman Thomas Lodge ; two houses in 
the city of London to William Mason, and the residue to 
Johane Wanton, the wife of his cousin Johayn Wanton. 
He appoints Lady Laxton sole executrix, and John 
Machell, Thomas Lodge, Nicholas Luddington, and John 
Southcote overseers to assist her. 



A GREAT FOUNDER 53 

But the codicil to Sir William Laxton's will, made the 
same day, is more germane to the history of Oundle, for 
therein he states that he is fully minded to found a Free 
Grammar School at Oundle to have continuance for ever, 
and which shall be kept in the messuage or house of late 
called the Guild Fraternity House of Oundle. He is also 
minded, he states, to have seven poor men perpetually to 
be found at Oundle each to have eight pence weekly 
towards their maintenance and free house room in the 
same Guild House. For this purpose he bequeaths unto 
the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery of Grocers 
within the City of London, and to their successors for ever, 
property in the parish of St. Swithen, at London Stone, and 
in Sterbourne Lane, Saint Nicholas Lane, Abchurch Lane, 
Candlewick Street, and East Cheap, or elsewhere within 
the City of London lately purchased of — Weldon, Esquire, 
upon condition that the said Wardens and Commonalty 
shall make suit with his executors to the King and Queen's 
Majestys the said Guild of Fraternity House to be 
employed and used for the Schoolhouse and for the habita- 
tion of the said seven poor men. The said Wardens and 
Commonalty are also to provide a Schoolmaster and Usher 
and to pay them respectively £18 and £6 13s. 4>d. He 
wills also that the said Wardens and Commonalty of 
Grocers aforesaid shall with the advice and consent of the 
Vicar, Churchwardens, and four of the best and honest 
parishioners of Oundle aforesaid, for the time being, [select] 
seven poor honest men dwellers in Oundle to be beadmen 
for him. The said Wardens and Commonalty shall also pay 
or cause to be paid to the said Vicar, Churchwardens, etc., 
twenty-four shillings yearly for the reparations and main- 
tenance of the said messuage. He wills his body to be 
buried in his Parish Church of Aldermary, and that a 
tomb be made over his grave in a laudable manner. 

Laxton died on July 29, 1556, a week after the signing 
of his will, and was buried as directed by his codicil in the 
Parish Church of St. Mary, Aldermary, as appears by an 



54 OUNDLE'S STORY 

extract from Stow's Survey, there being no register of his 
burial in that parish, nor a tombstone existing. 

" St. Mary, Aldermary. 

" Sir William Laxton, Grocer, maior 1545, founded a 
faire free schoole at Oundle Northamptonshire with sixe 
almes houses for the poore. . . . 

" Sir William Laxton, Grocer, maior, deceased 1556, and 
Thomas Lodge, Grocer, maior 1563, were buried in the 
vault of Henry Keble whose bones were unkindly cast out, 
and his monument pulled down, in place whereof monu- 
ments were set up of the later buried William Blunt, L. 
Mount joy buried there 1594 .... 

" A fair Tomb in the Chancel. 

" Sir William Laxton lyes interred 
Within this holy Vault 
That by good life and happy death 
The end. for which he sought. 
Of Poor and Rich he was beloved, 
His dealings they were just, 
God hath his Soul his Body here 
Consumed is to dust." 

On November 16, 1556, Alderman Lodge, who had 
married Lady Laxton's daughter, informed the Grocers' 
Company of Sir William Laxton's devise to them and the 
Company expressed their willingness " to receive the same 
with thanksgiving for his genteel remembrance." But for 
some reason or other there was delay on behalf of the 
Company in making application to the Crown for the 
Guildhall at Oundle in accordance with Laxton's request. 
It so happened that the lord of the manor of Oundle, the 
Earl of Bedford, was a member of the Government, and in 
1557, he called upon the Company " to further the legacy 
of Mr. Laxton for the erection of a Free School at Oundle." 
The Earl's interference may have been due to the fact 
that Lady Laxton, in anxious loyalty to her husband's 
wishes, had herself made application for the grant of the 
Guildhall. " Upon a valuation of it " (says Bridges) " the 
executor of Sir W m . Laxton intending to establish a 



A GREAT FOUNDER 55 

perpetual foundation for the relief of poor persons it was 
rated to the Lady Laxton at XX*" 

Owing to difficulties apparently in the interpretation 
of the will, matters dragged on until 1572, when a friendly 
suit appears to have been instituted by the Company 
against Lady Laxton and Mrs. Wanton in order to ascer- 
tain exactly the legal interest of these two ladies. A 
decree of dismissal was issued by consent, conferences 
were held, and ultimately on May 6, 1573 — 

" At this Court the Common Seal of this Company was 
brought down to seal one of the Indentures Tripartite 
between the Lady Laxton and the Company concerning 
the maintenance of Sir William Laxton's School in Oundle 
and the said Lady Laxton did seal another part of the 
said Indentures and also a Deed of Feoffment" — conveying, 
we imagine, the Guild, Schoolmaster's, and Usher's house 
— " and a Letter of Attorney for delivery of possession of 
Houses in Oundle and London." 

About a month after this, on the 3rd June, possession 
was taken of the Guild Hall for a Schoolhouse under the will 
(or codicil rather) of Sir William Laxton, by Mr. Owenshaw 
and Mr. Hawke, two of the feoffees appointed by the 
Grocers' Company. A house for the schoolmaster and 
another for the usher according to a deed of feoffment 
made by — 

" Dame Johane Laxton which was doone in presence of 
a great number of the Town of Oundle both old and young 
and there was given to 48 Scollers a peny a pece to 
the intent they should the better remember Mr. Warden's 
being at Oundle abowte the said possession. And there 
was also given to fyve poore Women that before were 
placed by the Lady Laxton and now removed to place 
Men there, to each of them 12 d . 

" Then Mr. Wardens returned to their Lodging, where 
they found one Mr. Chues, a Gentleman dwelling nighe to 
Oundle, to whom Sir Walter Mildmay had wryten his 
Letter of request to assist Mr. Wardens with his advyse 



56 OUNDLE'S STORY 

concerning the ordering of the said School and other 
things there 

" Then they satt all down and began to confer what 
things were next to be done and after consideration had, 
it was thought good to call in John Sadler who before had 
byn Schoolm r of the s d free School, but now, of late had 
discontynued and had not taught there but placed a 
young man in his room. And it was declared unto the 
said Schoolm r that from henceforth the School shall be 
kept in such order as Sir W m Laxton in his Will hath 
apointed. And that from Midsom r next the Schoolm r is 
to have for his Wages £18 a year and a House to dwell in : 
And therefore except he will be from thensforth resydent 
in Oundle and be dylligent in teaching of the Scollers that 
they may proffyt under him, that he shall remain there. 
To which the said John Sadler answered, that he myndeth 
to be resydent and to use himself so hereafter that he 
hopeth the Comp y shall have cause to lyke well of him, 
whereupon it was thought good to prove him to see 
whether he will do as he hath promysed. And Mr. 
Wardens required them of the Towne that if at any time 
they see that he does not his dutie that they will forwith 
wryte them thereof & they will see that redress shall be 
had with as much speed as may be. 

44 Then Mr. Wardens called in the young man which 
the said Schoolmaster had placed in his room, named 
Robert Lynacre and declared unto him that from hence- 
forth there must be an Usher to teach Scollers in the s d 
School under the Schoolnr". And that his wages must be 
£6 13 & 4 d a year & a House to dwell in, And did ask 
him whether he had good will to teach them for the said 
Wages, who answered, that he will gladly do his best to 
teach but thynketh the Stipend to be very small, neverthe- 
less, he minded to take payment in hope that some 
augmentation of his living will come hereafter by some 
Man's means, and he was admitted Usher. 

" There was then called in John Choorne who is the 
Mynister in Oundell (for there is no Vicar by cause the 
Lyving is so small) And the 2 Churchwardens were 
called for, Edw d Barber & Alexander Cutbead, Barber 
was there but Cutbead was out of Towne. 



A GREAT FOUNDER 57 

" Then was called in some of the honest substantiall 
persons parishioners of Oundle named M r Thomas Clerk, 
John Frances, W m Tuckingham and John Clement. And 
according to Sir W m Laxton's Will, Mr. Wardens requyred 
their advises & consents in the nomynating and electing 
of 7 poor men, dwellers in Oundle, to be Almsmen of Sir 
W. Laxton, Knight, sometime Alderman of London, 
And when the persons afs d saw to the nomynation of the 
said 7 poor men Mr. Wardens were very desyrous to have 
such 7 men as were without Wyves (although there be a 
very great number of poor Men) Yet will there not be 
found one man meete to receive Alms, that was without a 
Wyf e, & therefore were f ayn to take 7 poor Men which have 
Wyves whose names are these, Robert Clerk, John Keyte, 
Rich d Deacon, John Brooks, Phillip Lowden, Hugh 
Fysher, & Rob* Bonds, the which 7 poor men were 
sent for and called in, And Mr. Wardens declared unto 
them that according to Sir W m Laxton's Will they must 
inhabyt & dwell in 7 rooms, which shall be made for 
them under the Schoolhouse, And that each of them shall 
have after the rate of 8 d a week paid them quarterly, 
And they were also exhorted to live quietly and godly 
together, even like Brothers and Sisters. And it was 
also plainly declared unto them that when it shall please 
God to cawl any of them out of this transytory live that 
their Wyves can have no longer abode there, but must 
then presently provide other dwellings, for according to 
Sir W. Laxton's Will there must be other men forthwith 
placed in their rooms. And they were all very well con- 
tented & did thank Almighty God for sending such a 
good help towards their maintenance and lyving. 

" Mr. Wardens did also appoynte for the schoolm*' 8 
Lodging the Ten* sometyme called the Priest's House or 
Priest's Chambers. And did likewyse apoynt for the 
Usher's Lodging the Ten' sometyme called Gybsons House. 
And it was agreed and concluded that there shall be a 
partition made in the yarde lying between the Schoolm 1 
and the Usher, reaching from Wall to Wall, even to the 
North side of a Window, in the Schoolmaster's House. 
And the Usher to have a Door in the partition & egress 

E 



58 OUNDLE'S STORY 

& regress to & within the Schoolmaster's Yard, to fetch 
Water there. 

" Forasmuch as Mr Wardens found the School House 
even in that order as it was when it was a brotherhood 
House to eat & drink in whereby it . . . round about 
more lyke a Tavern than a Schoolhouse they therefore did 
make request to the Inhabitants of Oundle to take such 
order as the s d Schoolhouse be made with formes & desks 
after the manner of the Schoolhouse at Stamford and to 
white wash the Schoolhouse round about & to see the 
tyling of the same to be well fixed & thoroughly cemented, 
And also to remove the partition of the Almsmens Houses, 
& to set every partition under one of the greate Beams, 
& so where there is now but 5 rooms, there shall be 7 
Lodgings for the 7 Almsmen, And when the rooms be so 
made, either to place the men there according to their 
ancienty or else to make 7 lots and every man to take his 
good fortune. And Mr. Wardens did thereupon pay to the 
Churchwardens in hand for one year's reparations, which 
shall ende at Mids r twelvemonth xxiv 8 - And they did 
all willingly and faithfully promise to do all things that 
Mr. Wardens had requested them in the best manner that 
they can." 

Although no monument is to be found in St. Mary, 
Aldermary, we might say in Oundle more appropriately 
to-day than at any previous time " Si monumentum 
requiris circumspice." But on the east end of the Laxton 
School in the churchyard will be found an inscription in 
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, which according to an old 
translation may be read thus : — 

" At Oundle born, what he did get 
In London with great pain, 
Laxton to old and young hath set 
A comfort to remain." 



" He munificently gave, together with the buildings, 
£38 a year as endowment for two masters for the poor." 



A GREAT FOUNDER 59 

" Blessed is he that giveth to the simple, 

To bestow on the ignorant counsel and knowledge ; 
Blessed is he that piteously endoweth the poor with plenty 
To bestow on the afflicted a dwelling and bread." 

Mr. Wardens, in coming to Oundle, would be able to 
enter the town over the newly restored North bridge. 
The ancient tablet let into the wall of the recently again 
restored bridge tells us : — 

" In the yere of Oure Lord 1570, thes : arches wer : 
borne downe by the waters extremylie : In the yere 
of Oure Lord 1571 they were bulded agayn with lyme and 
stonne : Thanks be to God." 

Leland refers to the North bridge thus : — 

" The Ryver of Avon so windeth aboute Oundale 
Toune that it almost insulatithe it, savying a little 
by West North West. Going out of the Toune end of 
Oundale towards Fodringeye, I rode over a Stone Bridge, 
beinge of a great lengthe, by cawse Men may passe when 
the River overflowith. The Medowes lying on every 
side on a great Leavel there aboute. I gessid that there 
were about a 30 Arches of smaule and great that bare up 
this Cawsey." 

How soon after Mr. Wardens' visit in June 1573, the 
Statutes of the School were drawn up is uncertain, but 
certainly before 1604, for in that year it was observed that 
they had not been enrolled and an order was made for 
their enrollment. There were 29 original statutes. The 
Master is to be a Master of Arts, meet for his learning 
and dexterity. Neither the Master nor Usher shall be 
" Common Gamesters, Haunters of Taverns, neither to 
exceed in Apparel." The Master " shall not take to board, 
diet or lodge in his House or Rooms or otherwise above 
the number of Six Scholars and the Usher not above the 
number of Three but by licence of the said Wardens." 

None are to "be taught in the said School but first 
Master and Usher be spoken with by the friends of the 



60 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Scholar that they may give him or them understanding of 
such orders as be here included provided that the Scholar 
before his admission into the Grammar School be able to 
write competently and read both English and Latin and 
if the Schoolmaster or Usher upon proof or trial of his 
capacity find him not meet to learn to signify the same 
to his friends to remove him and none to tarry above 
five years in learning his Grammar without great cause 
alleged and allowed by Mr Wardens of the Grocers." 

" If the Scholar be not dwelling in the town but is to 
be boarded there, the Parents shall take advice of the 
Schoolmaster and Usher that he be not placed where, as it 
is known, the good man or his wife are such as shall give 
example to the Scholar to follow Idleness, Gaming, or other 
vain pastimes not meet for Studients. Every Scholar at his 
first admission into the School shall pay Sixpence to the 
Usher which money he shall have to the Intent he shall 
keep a Register book therein to write the names and 
surnames of the Scholars at their entering . . . the time 
of their departing, wherefore they went away and whether 
they went to the Universities or no." 

Prayers were to be said at 7 a.m. ; and teaching, 
reading and interpreting in the morning to be from 7.30 to 
11.0. Afternoon school to be from 1 to 5 or 6 p.m. 
according to the time of year, to close with prayers in 
which mention was always to be made of the Church, the 
Queen's Majesty, the Realm, the Lady Laxton, and the 
Company of Grocers. 

The Master and Usher were usually to speak in the 
Latin tongue to their Scholars, and likewise one scholar to 
another as well in the school as coming and going to school. 
There was to be only one afternoon holiday each week, 
and on Sundays and Holydays the scholars with the Master 
and Usher were to resort to the Parish Church in the time 
of Common Prayer, each scholar to have a Prayer Book 
either in Latin or English as the Master should appoint. 

Just three years after their former visit, namely in 
May, 1576, the Wardens came to Oundle again, bringing 



A GREAT FOUNDER 61 

with them an examiner in the person of the Revd. Mr. 
Blaze, parson of St. Vedast Foster in the city of London. 
He preached in the Parish Church on the Sunday, when — 
" he did make a very good sermon," and " where was 
a great audience of gentlemen of the county and others." 
Not only did he examine the scholars, but he also ques- 
tioned the almsmen and " found them very ignorant 
and took order that if they did not learn the Lord's 
Prayer, the Belief, and Ten Commandments before Whit- 
suntide their pension shall cease." 

In 1592 the schoolmaster was requested to act as pay- 
master to the almsmen. 

So did " the old order change, giving place to new," 
and the Guild School pass into the Public School, for Sir 
William Laxton's School was, from the first, something 
more than a local school. Not only does the first list of 
scholars include the son of a cobbler and a son of Edward 
Lord Montague, but pupils were attracted from far and 
wide. A point of evidence in this direction is fixed in 
our Parish Church in the shape of a mural monument on 
the West wall. It reads as follows : — 

" Here lyeth ye Body of William Loringe, second son 
of William Loringe of Haymes in the County of Gloster. 
Esq re Linially descended from The Right Ye Honorable S r 
Neale Loringe one of ye Founders of ye Noble order of ye 
Garter. He tooke to wife Edith daughter of Thomas 
Warren of Snowshill in ye County of Gloster Esq. who is 
descended of S r John de Warren second sonne of The 
Right Honorable John Ye last Earle Warren Squire of 
Sussex by whom he had issue 5 sonns & 5 daughters & 
died 6 th day of March, an. dni. 1628. 

" To whose memorie Edith his most sorrowful wife in 
testification of her everlasting love doth with unfayned 
teares consecrate this monument." 

This William Loringe of Gloucestershire had two sons 
at Sir William Laxton's School and, quite probably, was 



62 



OUNDLE'S STORY 



taken ill and died in Oundle when he was visiting his boys. 
Amongst those keenly interested in the School from the 
first was Sir Walter Mildmay, of Apethorpe Hall, who was 
Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth. He founded Emmanuel 
College, Cambridge, for the furtherance of " essentially 
Protestant principles," and in January 1583 appears to 
have promised two scholarships to be held at Emmanuel 
by Oundle School boys. It is not clear whether the 
promise was ever actually fulfilled. 

But, however this may be, the impetus given to educa- 
tion by William Laxton was destined to carry along a 
swelling tide which those now living have been privileged 
to see at far the greatest height it has at any time yet 
reached. 




THE SCHOOL ARMS. 



CHAPTER V 

PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 

JUST four years before the Wardens of the Grocers' 
Company came to Oundle, namely, in 1569, there 
arrived at Barnwell one who was to prove a 
benefactor, both in education and kindly charity, to a 
wide district. This was Nicholas Latham, who was the 
son of the keeper of Brigstock Great Park, and was born in 
1548. When Latham was quite young, his father appears 
to have moved to Rushden, where the lad was brought up 
and whence he had the great advantage of walking day 
by day to Higham Ferrers to attend the Grammar School 
founded by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
in 1422. Latham always remembered his home and 
school, for in addition to many other benefactions he gave 
a sum to realise £3 yearly to be distributed to six poor 
people of Rushden, where he was brought up, and a like 
amount to be distributed in the same way to six poor 
people of Higham Ferrers, where he was educated. We 
can think of two possible factors which might influence 
greatly the mind of Latham in after life. He would 
probably hear from his father stories of the difficulties 
which arose from time to time in connection with the 
struggles of the people for the maintenance of their 
common rights in the Great Park, and he would also 
hear from his teachers the story of Chichele who, by reason 
of diligence in study as by other qualities, had risen from 
a poor station in Higham Ferrers to the highest position 
in the Church. 

63 



64 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Mr. Austell, in his survey, noted the right of the 
parishioners of Oundle to pasture hogs in the Lord's 
woods, except in Park Wood, i.e. there was a common 
right to pasture in Parsons Wood, The Hills, Little Hall, 
and Pexley Wood, covering altogether between 60 and 70 
acres. When Austell made his survey Nicholas Latham 
was just seventeen years of age. Four years before 
Latham was born, in 1544, an Act was passed in which 
it was set forth that after the commonable woods had 
been enclosed seven years, they were to be laid open for 
the Commoners, and convenient spaces were to be left for 
their cattle to come into the woods and there to pasture 
and feed. When Latham had been but two years in 
Barnwell, an Act was passed which makes it clear that 
hogs were commonable, for it is enacted thereby that — 

" if any person or persons suffer his swine, being of the age 
of ten weeks or above during such years as the said woods 
be appointed or ordained by this Act to be inclosed, to go or 
run in any common or several grounds or woods unless the 
same swine be sufficiently ringg'd or pegg'd that then the 
owner or owners of such swine shall forfeit four pence." 

All this would be of great interest to the son of the 
park keeper, and incline him more and more to be the 
friend of the poor. 

At twenty-one years of age Nicholas comes to Barn- 
well, in deacon's orders, to minister to the people, where he 
is to remain the remainder of his life — 1569-1620. On 
his arrival he finds no Vicar at Oundle, and none is appa- 
rently appointed until 1583, fourteen years afterwards, 
and during the remainder of his ministry, five Vicars of 
Oundle come and go. When he was forty-five, Latham 
married Mary Foster, the daughter of Henry Foster of 
Burwash, in Sussex, by whom he had a son who died in 
infancy. 

Latham saw his parishioners coming from Barnwell 
into Oundle market along a rough and ill-made road, and 




PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 65 

so constructed the pathway which extends to-day from 
just opposite Barnwell Railway Station to the parish 
boundary at Oundle Pumping Station. Moreover, he gave 
to the parish of Barnwell a sum to bring in £6 13s. 4d. a, 
year to repair the same path. He also provided for the 
repair of the road from By thorn to Tichmarsh. The 
almswomen had disappeared from the old Guild Almshouse 
in Oundle, and men had taken their place under the will 
of Sir William Laxton, and encouragement had been 
given in Parliament for making provision for the aged. 
The spoliation of the guilds of England was beginning to 
be felt. An Act was passed on October 24, 1596, " for 
the erecting of hospitals, or abiding and working houses 
for the poor." Latham's heart was touched, and in 
December, 1599, he purchased from Sir Edward Montagu 
the site for erecting in his own parish of Barnwell a hospital 
for the maintenance of twelve poor people who must be 
upwards of fifty years of age. The three first to be single 
men ; nine others to be men or women, single, widowers, or 
widows ; and besides these, two women who were to take 
care of the sick. He also duly provided them with 
pensions, clothing, firing, and washing. He also further 
afterwards erected and endowed a Free School in his own 
parish and at Brigstock, Weekley, and Hemington. 

It is, however, Latham's generosity towards Oundle 
with which we are the more concerned. He was gradually 
becoming possessed of property in various places with a 
view to doing in Oundle as he had done in Barnwell. In 
the meantime he was anxious to show such immediate 
kindness to the parishioners of Oundle as he was able. 
He therefore got into touch with the Vicar of Oundle, and 
wrote to him a letter of which note was duly made by the 
Trustees of the Town Estates as follows : — 

" December 26, 1608. Forasmuch as it hath pleased 
God to move Mr Latham now Minister of Barnwell in the 
County of Northampton to give (after the death of him 
and his wife) to six of the poorest inhabitants of our Town 



66 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of Oundle ten shillings apiece to be paid by the Warden of 
the Hospital in Barnwell aforesaid or their successors for 
ever upon the one and twentieth day of December And 
for that the said Mr Latham is desirous to see the same 
his gift in some part to take place, he hath appointed 
yearly during their lives that the said poor inhabitants 
shall have half the said money given to them videlicet 
five shillings apiece for the said poor people as by a letter 
under the handwriting of the said Mr Latham dated the 
tenth day of December 1608 more plainly it doth appear. 
Therefore to the end that God ever may be prayed to for 
this His mercy vouchsafed us and that this so godly and 
charitable a deed of Mr Latham's with his full purpose 
will and intent therein may the better be known to our 
succeeding posterities we that now be inhabitants of the 
said town of Oundle have caused his said letter to be set 
down and written verbation in this Book of our town 
accounts and business, &c, as follows : — 

" * To his loving neighbours, Mr Bearsley Minister of 
Oundle and to the Churchwardens and Con- 
stables there or either of them : — 

" ' After my hearty commendations having so long 
time dwelt near to your town of Oundle and enjoyed 
your neighbourly and friendly acquaintance I could 
not but in some sort show my thankfulness towards 
your said town and therefore have appointed the 
Warden of the Hospital in Barnwell or their Bailiff 
and Successors for ever to pay or cause to be paid 
after the decease of me and my wife unto six of the 
poorest inhabitants of your town of Oundle x* apiece 
for ever to be paid them yearly on the 21 8t day 
December which six poor people shall be named and 
appointed by the Minister Churchwarders and their 
Successors for ever. And the said poor people must 
upon the XXI day of December yearly come or send 
for their money to the Wardens or Bailiffs with a 
certificate under your said Officers' hands, or the 
most part of them that they whose names are under 
written are the parties whom they have appointed to 
receive the said money and because this year, is scarce 



PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 67 

with some I would gladly see the same Gift in some 
part to take place and have appointed yearly during 
our lives that they shall have half the said money 
given to them, viz. 5/- apiece for the said six poor 
people and because they must be such as the Statutes 
of my house doth allow of I have for the better 
directions in your choice sent you herein some part 
of the orders & Statutes in that point praying at your 
convenient leisure to bethink yourselves who are 
most fit to receive the said money. And so com- 
mending you to the Lord I bid you most heartily 
farewell from Barnwell 10 th of December 1608. 
'Your loving Neighbour 

'N. Latham. 

" * Statutes and orders for the money which is to be 
paid to the seven parishes for ever : — 

1. They must be such as have been hurt in the wars or 

hindered by going on warfare. 

2. Or had his or her house burnt or blown down. 

3. Or hath this or that infectious disease. 

4. Or that he his wife or child hath been so long sick or 

lame. 

5. Or had but one or two Beasts and one of them is 

stolen or dead not being able to provide another. 

6. Or for the nursing bringing up or binding prentice 

of such poor man's child so it be not bastard. 

7. Or this or that lame or blind body. 

" ' But if any of them be known to go begging out of 
their parish or hath consumed their goods by rioting 
or drunkenness or refuse to work in some calling to 
their power or strength or suspected to live in adultery 
or stealing such shall have no part of the money given 
by me.' " 

The seven parishes mentioned above are Barnwell, 
Brigstock, Higham Ferrers, Kirton (Lincolnshire), Oundle, 
Polebrook, and Ringstead. 

The first six people in Oundle to receive the Latham 
Doles (in 1608) were Richard Antony, Richard Berrigge, 



68 OUNDLE'S STORY 

John Goodwyn, Thomas Gilbert, William Jerman, and 
William Parstell. 

At the same time Mr. Latham was making definite 
preparations for the erection of his Almshouse and School 
in Oundle, and on November 20, 1610, he purchased from 
John Sylbye the site of the hospital, described in the deed 
as " a messuage in Oundle, abutting upon the common 
street, leading towards the bridge, towards the north, 
which tenement was then in building, for the establish- 
ment of a hospital or almshouse in the place where the 
same tenement late stood." The actual deed of founda- 
tion was dated May 15, 1611, and by it the new building 
was declared to be erected and founded as " a hospital and 
abiding place for the finding sustentation and relief of 
certain aged, poor, needy, or impotent people to have con- 
tinuance forever." 

The alms persons were to constitute a corporation and 
to be called, in English, by the name of " Parson Latham's 
Hospital in Oundle," and in Latin 4 * Hospitium Latham 
Rectoris in Oundle." The body and members of the 
hospital were to consist of a Warden, and not more than 
sixteen other aged poor. The Warden was to be called in 
English " The Warden of Parson Latham's Hospital in 
Oundle," and in Latin, " Guardianus aut Guardiana 
Hospitii Latham Rectoris in Oundle." The first Warden 
was Catherine Smith, and Margaret Pyndon one of the 
first inmates of the almshouse. Catherine Smith was 
succeeded in the office of Warden by Joan Godfrey. The 
corporation was to possess a common seal bearing the 
words " Quod dedi, accepi." Such a seal is still used by 
the present Board of Trustees for the sealing of their 
documents. For the endowment of the Hospital Mr. 
Latham acquired property at Orton Longfield (now 
Longueville), Pertenhall, Kirton-in-Holland, Moulton 
(Lincolnshire), Islip, and other places. In the case of 
certain leaseholds it was stipulated that the rent should 
be paid in the porch of Oundle Parish Church. 




PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 69 

Between the establishment of the Hospital and Mr. 
Latham's death, things were not going very well at Sir 
William Laxton's School. The master there was a 
Reverend Mr. Spencer, who did not obtain priest's orders 
until September, 1613. The governors of the school had 
had occasion to find fault with him, and Mr. Spencer 
had obtained admission to the priesthood in hope of 
obtaining a benefice. Happily he was not successful and 
he was persuaded to resign with a solatium in September, 
1613. Mr. Latham was intending to found a school, but 
apparently for the sons of the workers, who could, perhaps, 
if duly qualified, go on to Sir William Laxton's School, and 
ultimately go to Cambridge with exhibitions founded 
by Mr. Latham. Thus the " educational ladder " — or 
44 broad way," for cobbler's son and peer's son went side by 
side — existed in Oundle very early in the seventeenth 
century. The Latham School and Almshouse, with house 
for the Master, were side by side in North Street, the upper 
schoolroom, now recently used as an Art School, being 
for the Writing Master. In the days of Bridges the words 
44 Glory to God " were cut in the stone over the entrance 
door of the School and were truly typical of the whole 
tenor of Mr. Latham's life. 

In framing the Orders and Statutes for the government 
of the Hospital and School, Mr. Latham consulted Mr. 
Daniel Dave, junior, and Mr. William Dugard, B.A., Usher 
of Sir William Laxton's School, and finally approved of 
them on March 27, 1620. Amongst the first bailiffs were 
Edward Cuthbert and Thomas Cawthorne. The former 
was probably the son of the Churchwarden at the time of 
the visit of the Wardens of the Grocers' Company to take 
over the Laxton property. The name of this Mr. Cuthbert 
is preserved to us in the brass, to the memory of his daughter, 
in the pavement of the North aisle of the Parish Church, 
which reads as follows : — 

" Here lyes Katherine Dayrell the wife of Peter Dayrell 



70 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Second Son to Sir Thomas Dayrell, of Lillington Dayrell, in 
the county of Buck, knight and the eldest Daughter of 
Edward Cuthbert of Oundle, Drapier. She was buried the 
17 th of September Ano Domini 1615." 

The Cuthberts were a large family, whose members 
were sometimes described as " Generosi " and sometimes 
as " Fabri." A Richard Cuthbert was one of the Latham 
bailiffs more than fifty years later, i.e. in 1678. But, in one 
sense, the government of the Hospital was to be demo- 
cratic. Mr. Latham had appointed the first Warden, but 
he provided that when vacancies arose the residue of the 
corporation was to assemble in the Hall of the Hospital 
and to elect " some one poor woman " of the Company to 
be their Warden. If they could not agree the bailiffs were 
to appoint, but in either case any of Mr. Latham's kin 
was to have the preference should they so desire. One 
poor person was to be a resident of Ashton, the rest to be 
chosen from the town of Oundle ; they must be over fifty 
years of age, and must have been resident in Oundle seven 
years before their election. They must be able to help 
themselves without the aid of others. They were to be 
elected by the Minister of the Parish of Oundle, the Church- 
wardens, and bailiffs of the Hospital, and in case of an even 
vote for each of two applicants they were " to cast lots 
which of them two shall have the place." If there be 
no applicant for a vacancy, the Warden and residue of 
the corporation were given full power to choose a suitable 
person from Oundle or " Poolbrook hundred." A vacancy 
in the office of bailiff was to be filled by the Warden and 
surviving bailiff, who should " choose one other and 
sufficient man in Oundle," but who must first " enter in 
Bond of one hundred pounds with a Sufficient suretie to 
make a true accompt of his Bail wick." The bailiffs were 
not to go unrewarded for their pains, in keeping the 
accounts and managing the property of the corporation, 
they were to be allowed to spend on themselves, their 
neighbours that heard the accounts, and the poor in the 



PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 71 

house and the schoolmaster, " to make merry at a dinner 
of Fifty Shillings." 

It was natural, perhaps, that the neighbours of the 
bailiffs should be an expanding circle, and this a century 
later came to the knowledge of the Visitor (the then Duke 
of Buccleuch), who, on February 24, 1740, laid it down 
that " whereas many resort to that dinner that are not 
invited neither are concerned to see accompts of the said 
Hospital Taken to the great Charges and Expence of the 
said Hospital I do by Virtue of the power to me Commited 
Order and appoint that the Bailiffs provide for Themselves 
and those whom they think fit to invite to take the accounts 
& do not exceed in their Expences the said sum of fifty 
Shillings and if any persons not invited by the Bailiffs shall 
come to the said Dinner they shall be required to pay their 
Ordinary for their Dinner as the Bailiffs pay for those who 
are Invited by them." 

A sum of £50 was to be carried forward each year as a 
" Repair Fund," and if this should prove at any time 
insufficient the bailiffs were empowered to reduce the 
weekly pensions of the alms persons by twopence or three- 
pence a week, and to avoid filling up vacancies so long as 
not more than six rooms should be vacant at any time, 

Mr. Latham had found that some of the inmates in his 
Hospital at Barnwell did " not care of themselves how 
sluttishly they lodge or go apparelled." He therefore 
laid down for the Oundle Hospital that if such should 
arise the bailiffs were to buy what was necessary and 
deduct the cost from the weekly pensions. He regretted 
that there was not sufficient space on his North Street site 
to build the house entirely on the ground floor, and desired 
that in order to avoid the difficulty of the stairs regard 
should be paid to the age and weakness of the alms- 
persons. The tender heart of Mr. Latham is laid bare in 
his " order to avoid bribery." Having determined that 
any who obtained place by bribery shall " ipso facto be 
displaced for ever," he adds : — 



72 OUNDLE'S STORY 

" but this order shall not extend to any that will give 
after they be placed in the House, any money or goods in 
their Lifetimes or at their departure to the good of the 
House, or further benefitt of them that dwell therein." 
Every sabbath and week day the alms-persons " shall come 
to the church if the bell do ring or tole to prayers and there 
attentively and diligently use themselves during the time 
of prayer or preaching upon pain to forfeit for every 
default l d - except they be out of town or at their dayly 
labour in some place or sickness or some other lawfull 
excuse and every dajr once or twice at the appointed time of 
the Warden and Bailiffs they shall at the ringing of their bell 
kneel down in the Hall and make their prayers together." 

For this purpose Mr. Latham provided the prayer 
" penned by himself," which is painted upon a board and 
is fixed over the fireplace in the hall, which was formerly 
on the ground floor, until the restoration of the house a 
few years ago (1912). 

" O Mercifull God and loving Father in Jesus Christ, we 
heartily thank Thee for Thy manifold Blessings bestowed 
upon us both on our souls and Bodies and namely that Thou 
dost not despise such poor creatures as we are, but hath 
given thy dear son to suffer death for our redemption and 
hast ordained us to live in these days that by preaching and 
hearing thy Holy Gospel we may in some measure behold 
the same and also of thy abundent favour and love in our 
tender age Thou didst cause our parents carefully to Look 
unto us when we were not able to help ourselves and in our 
middle age didst give health and strength of body to labour 
in our callings to get our living and now in our old age thou 
wouldst not leave us nor forsake us but hast of thy mercy 
stirred up others to have compassion upon us and to help 
our infirmities for these and all other thy bountifull 
Blessings bestowed upon us we bow the knee of our hearts 
and give thee thanks in Jesus Christ, and we pray thee 
good Father for his sake to bless every member of his 
church, our King and country, the town where we dwell 
our friends that Labour for our relief and so Bless them Lord 
that they as sowers and we as Reapers may rejoice together 



PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 73 

in that glorious day of our Lord Jesus Christ in whose name 
we crave that good Blessing and others as he hath taught 
us, saying our Father which art in heaven." 

A similar prayer was also written by Mr. Latham for 
the scholars of his school. The pains which the founder 
took in every detail for the comfort of the women may be 
illustrated by one more reference to the Hospital Statutes, 
iu which he says : — 

" No fire shall be made and kindled at the will and 
pleasure of every one in the house, for then there would 
grow a disordered waste but at the will and appointment 
of the Warden and her Bailiffs, and in cold weather, if the 
chimney be to little to warm all them that come to it the 
warden shall command her that hath sitten longest at the 
lire to depart awhile that others may also warm them. . . ." 

Mr. Latham was careful to draw up statutes for his 
School as for his Hospital. The School was to accommodate 
30 poor men's sons from the town of Oundle if there be 
so many and their parents willing thereto, whereby they 
may the better learn their duty to God and their neigh- 
bours. The schoolmaster was " to be at no repairs of 
the houses but glass as well for his own dwelling as the 
schoolhouse." The scholars to be elected on the 1st day 
of May and none to remain above 4 or 5 years. There 
was also to be a writing master, and no scholar put to 
writing at the charges of the hospital was to remain above 
2 years. Every scholar on admission to pay 2d. to 
defray the cost of entry in the Register by the school- 
master, who might take no more than 10 private pupils 
to read, in addition to the 30. Holidays were to be 
12 days at Easter, and Whitsun week. The master could 
be displaced if inefficient or unworthy, but 

" if blindness or deafness happen unto him he shall have 
some chamber about the houses and have the stipend of 
one poor body in the Hospital the next is void. He is to 
be neither dark nor sexton of the parish, and when any 



74 OUNDLE'S STORY 

poor person of the Hospital or Bailiff depart this life, he 
is to cause his scholars in their Livery coats to attend the 
corpse to the Burial." 

We hope that in the early days, the scholars were as 
diligent and attentive as Mr. Latham would have wished. 
The detailed comments of the schoolmaster in his register, 
most beautifully kept some 60 years ago (1853-1865) show 
the boys of to-day to be of a higher standard of ability 
and character. The stipend of the schoolmaster is to 
be 6 pounds a year ; to be paid 10s. on the first 
sabbath in every month, and 135. 4d. a year towards his 
livery. A writing master 'to teach 12 poor children 
to write is to receive £3 6s. 8d. yearly. £15 a year 
is to be set aside to buy the scholars coats of blue 
cloth against Whitsunday, " and if the said 15 pounds a 
year will be any overplus then each scholar to have a cap 
or hatt also." If the Warden and her bailiffs can get a 
minister to preach on the account day " she shall allow 
him 13s. 4d. for his pains." 

The Latham Sermon is now preached on St. Thomas' 
Day, and the writer of this story has duly received the 
said fee. 

The requirements of modern Education Acts necessi- 
tated the merging of the Latham School in the Oundle 
Church of England School. A salary of £40 a year was 
paid direct to a schoolmaster in 1882, when it ceased. 
From that year it was paid to the Correspondent of the 
Oundle Church School until 1903, but a pajmient of £8 
a year to the schoolmaster for a separate Sunday Bible 
Class continued until April, 1907. The provision of 
clothing for the boys was discontinued in 1905. The 
Anniversary Dinner was held for the last time in 1900. 
The Charity is now managed under a scheme sealed by the 
Charity Commissioners on July 1, 1910. The last Warden 
was Mrs. Susannah Freer, who was appointed on June 11, 



PARISH PRIEST AND BENEFACTOR 75 

1885, and died, at the age of 97, in September, 1912, thus 
holding the office for 27 years. She exerted the influence 
of a striking personality over the members of the Hospital. 
To listen to Mrs. Freer, who retained her faculties until 
three days of her death, was to learn local history with 
ease and with great interest. She could make the old days 
live, and possessed a natural old-world courtesy which 
made all feel a deference towards her which her years 
otherwise rightly claimed. The last bailiffs of the hospital 
were Mr. R. S. Gurney Coombs and Mr. John Hume 
Smith. 

Just before his death the yearly revenue of the property 
which had been set aside by Mr. Latham for his Oundle 
Hospital and School amounted to £131 16s. 8d. The 
expenses, which we give in detail as revealing comparative 
values of money and labour, were estimated by Mr. 
Latham as follows : — 



To sixteen women dwellers in the Hospital 
Two women in the town to look to the sick 
Eighteen gowns will cost one year with 

another 
Fewell and washing for sixteen in the house 
The preaching and dinners on the accompt 

day 3 3 4 

To the poor in Kirton, Oundle and Pole- 
brook 7 

The schoolmaster £6 13s. 4d. and a writer (if 

may be) £3 6s. Sd. 10 

Thirty scholars' Liveries ... ... ... 15 

To twenty poor people in Oundle and 5s. for 

scholars' bread ... ... ... ... 15 



£ 


s. 


d. 


68 


18 





5 


4 





6 








7 


4 






The sum total ... ... 123 14 4 

This left to repair the houses and other things, as 
candle and salt, etc., £8 2s. 4<d. 

" Remember that on the accompt day the two women 
that look to the sick may dine with the residue of the 
women in the Hospital, when the stock of fifty pounds is 



76 OUNDLE'S STORY 

full then let the schoolmaster have a chauldron of coals 
to warm his scholars in winter — let a poor cousin of mine 
dwelling in fleet in holland (they call her Lady stone 
Jane) 20/- a year during her life and Joan a poor woman in 
Brigstock 2d. a week during life." 

By his will dated April 6, 1620, Mr. Latham con- 
firmed and ratified the various gifts and benefactions to 
which we have referred. He died four months afterwards, 
August 4, 1620, at the age of 72, having inherited no 
worldly estate from his parents other than the house at 
Brigstock in which he was born and which he gave for a 
school there. All these acts of charity arose solely from 
the Rectory of Barnwell St. Andrew, being about the 
yearly value of £160. All these works he saw perfected 
and completed in his lifetime and left a personal estate of 
£120. Truly he lived in accordance with his motto, 
" Quod dedi accepi." 



CHAPTER VI 

THE COMMONWEALTH — BEFORE AND AFTER 

IT is highly likely that Queen Elizabeth, the last of the 
Tudors, and the first two of the Stuart kings passed 
through Oundle or saw the town in the distance. In 
1573 Elizabeth visited Fotheringhay and ordered monu- 
ments to be erected in the church in memory of those her 
royal ancestors whose bodies had been interred in the 
churchyard, and James I., when journeying from Edin- 
burgh to London, made Apethorpe Hall one of his halting 
places. Thence he proceeded to Hinchingbrooke and, 
in devotion to his mother, would see Fotheringhay and 
Perio Mill en route. 

It was in the fifth year of James I. that the Crown 
dispossessed itself of the Rectorial Manor of Oundle. By 
letters patent dated May 17, 1608, the King, acting through 
his " Cousin and Councillor Louis Duke of Lenox," gave 
and granted, subject to the contingent liabilities attaching 
thereto, to Sir Thomas Monson and William Darwyn in 
return for their faithful services — 

" the Rectory of Oundle in our County of Northampton 
formerly part of the lands and possessions of the late 
Monastery of Peterborough surrendered and afterwards 
being parcel of the dower of the Lady Katharine heretofore 
Queen of England ... as fully freely and entirely and in 
as ample manner and form as any Abbot or Prior, Abbess 
or Prioress of any late Monastery or Priory monasteries 
or priories or any other or others the aforesaid Rectories 

77 



78 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Tithes and other the premises by these presents before 
granted or any part thereof ever heretofore having possess- 
ing or being seized thereof ever had held used or enjoyed 
or ought to have held used or enjoyed in the premises 
above by these presents before granted or in any part 
thereof by reason or pretext of any charter of gift grant 
or confirmation heretofore had made or granted or con- 
firmed by us or by either of our progenitors or ancestors 
late Kings or Queens of England or by reason or pretext 
of any Act or Acts of Parliament . . . reserving to our- 
selves all advowsons and patronage." 

The year 1626 is at the present time brought before 
the eye in Oundle in two places not many yards apart. 
On the gable of the first house on the north side of West 
Street is the legend " W.W. 1626 " and the sign outside 
the Talbot Hotel bears the same date. The former 
inscription no doubt marks the year when the block of 
property, extending in West Street and also in New Street, 
including the Talbot, was built by William Whitwell ; 
but the Talbot sign is misleading in two directions. It 
may give the impression that there was no inn on the site 
before 1626, which we have seen to be incorrect, and also 
that it was named " The Talbot " in that year. This 
did not happen until further on in the century, of which 
we will speak later, but no doubt the year 1626 may be 
taken as the date of erection of the main portion of the 
present building. Whether portions of Fotheringhay 
Castle were incorporated in the building we do not know, 
but a careful inspection of the staircase and the wall in 
which it rests does not lead to a corroboration of the 
tradition that the staircase was that up and down which the 
ill-fated Queen of Scots walked at Fotheringhay. 

Such is the present fashion of spelling Fotheringhay. 
It will have been noticed that the letter h was not 
included in earlier days, which is in accordance with 
Professor Skeat's explanation of the name. " It is mis- 
spelt," says the Professor, " with h ; probably by popular 



THE COMMONWEALTH 79 

etymology by confusion with hay, which represents 
(A.S.) hege, a hedge. The ' g ' belongs to the ' ng,' not 
to ' ay. 5 The A.S. ' ng ' was pronounced as ' ngg ' 
and is so still in the words ■ linger,' ' finger,' etc. Fother- 
ingay would represent in A.S. ' Fotheringa-Ieg.' It means 
' isle of the Fotherings ; ' leg was used of any bit of land 
partially isolated : and F. is beside the river." 

Mr. Biersley, the Vicar, Mr. Latham's friend, had died 
in 1610 and was succeeded at the Vicarage by Mr. George 
Coldwell and Mr. John Townshend, whose terms of office 
lasted together only seven years. Then came Mr. Arthur 
Smith, who remained until his death, his burial being 
entered in the Parish Church register — " Mr. Arthur 
Smith minister bur d 12 of Ffebruary " (1641-2). It was 
in Mr. Smith's time that Walter Kirkham of Fineshade 
left by will (dated December 15, 1636) £10 a year to the 
Vicar of Oundle for reading service daily at 7 a.m. and 
5 p.m. except on Sundays and Holy Days and for preaching 
a sermon in the Parish Church on the anniversary of his 
burial. He charged his property at Elmington with the 
payment of this sum, which cannot now be traced, possibly 
due, alas ! to the fact that daily prayers were not main- 
tained. 

It was this Walter Kirkham who erected the tomb 
in memory of his mother on the north side of the sanctuary 
of the Parish Church, and which is inscribed as follows ; — 

CONSTANS CONTRARIA SPERNIT 

MEMORISE SACRUM 

IN HAC DOMO VIVENTIUM CERTA SPE 

RESURRECTIONIS PLACIDE OBDORMIT IN 

XPO MARTHA KIRKHAM QUONDAM UXOR 

GULIELMI KIRKHAM DE FINSHEAD IN COMIT. 

NORTHAMPT. ARMIG. POSTEA VIDUA 

DEFUNCTA CUJUS RELIQUAS HOC TUMULO 

(TANQUAM THESAURUM IN GAZOPHYLACIO) 

RECONDI ET REPONI CURAVIT GUALTERUS 

KIRKHAM UTRIUSQUE CHARISSIMI PARENTIS 

FILIUS UNICUS DILECTISSIMUS. 

OBIT DIE JULII 27 ANNO SALUTIS 1616 

^ETATIS 56 



80 OUNDLE'S STORY 

The Kirkhams purchased Fineshade Abbey in 1546. 
The family home previously was at the Chantry House, 
Cotterstock, on the north-east side of the churchyard, 
which now became the home of the eldest son. 

In 1636 a dispute arose between the Earl of Bedford 
and Sir Edward Montagu of Barnwell as to the right to 
hold a Court leet in Oundle. The latter claimed the right 
as Lord of the Hundred of Polebrook, and the Earl of 
Bedford as Lord of the Manor of Oundle. The matter 
was referred to arbitration with the usual result, that a 
compromise was effected. 

In the closing year of the Rev. Arthur Smith's life, 
King Charles paid his second visit to Little Gidding. 
He had been there nearly ten years before, on May 13, 
1633, when he was met in solemn procession by the 
family of Ferrar and their singing boys and conducted to 
the Church. The next year, 1634, he stayed like his father 
at Apethorpe, and may have seen the builders at work in 
rebuilding our church spire. It seems quite probable 
that Nicholas Ferrar of Gidding, the Churchman of this 
neighbourhood at that time, may have been instrumental 
in effecting this restoration. When in 1642 Charles 
arrived at Little Gidding, he came accompanied by the 
Duke of Lennox and others, having left London in the 
hands of the Parliamentarians, and was on his way to 
Stamford by the Great North Road. The Long Parlia- 
ment had been sitting for nearly two years when Mr. 
Arthur Smith died, and six months afterwards, on August 
18, 1642, they nominated Mr. Richard Resbury as 
" Lecturer " of Oundle. There had been " lecturers " 
in Oundle before this date, but they had received no formal 
or legal status. In addition to the names already men- 
tioned, John Osmie was licensed curate in 1570, and ushers 
at the school duly recognised were : 1558, Willys Read and 
Mr. Catlin ; 1588, Mr. Periwidge ; 1591, Mr. Dodd and Mr. 
Walker, usher to Mr. Spencer. A Mr. Eusebius Paget 
and Mr. Strickland Negus, who was usher at Sir William 



THE COMMONWEALTH 81 

Laxton's School, appear to have acted in an unauthorised 
capacity. 

But there is no doubt that Mr. Resbury was actually 
acknowledged as Vicar. He baptised his own sons and 
others whose baptisms are duly entered in the parish 
registers. He took his degree of B.A. at Sidney Sussex 
College, Cambridge, in 1629, and was licensed on April 30, 
1639, by the Bishop to practise medicine. He had four 
sons at school in Oundle, of whom the eldest, Theodore, 
was born at Elton in 1637. He entered the school, at the 
age of six years, the year after his father had arrived in 
Oundle. The father is described in the School Register 
as " Cler. et Oundellianae pastor." Theodore went to 
Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1652. Nathaniel, the 
second son, was baptised in Oundle Parish Church by 
his father on September 24, 1649. Benjamin, " son of 
Richard Resbury, min : borne i Bapt : 19 Apr : 1653," 
and Samuel was baptised on July 23, 1660. 

Before the baptisms in the parish register at the close 
of June, 1645, these words are written as a heading : — 
" These set downe according to y° Directory set fforth 
by y e Synnod and alow d of by both houses of Parliment." 

The Directory, and not the Prayer Book, was thus the 
guide to worship in the Parish Church at this time. Mr. 
Resbury seems to have been a lover of controversy, pub- 
lishing several controversial pamphlets. One of these 
was put forth in 1651, when Mr. Resbury calls himself 
" Minister of the Gospel at Oundle," under the title of 
" Some stop to the Gangrene of Arminianism lately 
promoted by Mr. John Goodwin in his book entitled 
fc Redemption Redeemed.' " A copy of the second edition 
of this pamphlet is in the library of Oundle School. 
Replies and counter-replies followed. Mr. Resbury also 
wrote : " The Tabernacle of God with Man ; or, the visible 
Church Reformed : A Discourse of the Nature and Disci- 
pline of the visible Church." 

He has been described as a man of brisk parts and very 



82 OUNDLE'S STORY 

facetious. He certainly made his mark, and his fame 
spread far beyond the parish in which he ministered. In 
one of the volumes of Domestic State Papers, under date 
July 16, 1653, is an entry : — 

" Captain Falconbridge to pay to Mr. Resbury, 
Minister of Oundle, Northamptonshire, the arrears of 
£50 a year granted by the late Committee for Plundered 
Ministers out of the tenths and first fruits, notwithstanding 
the late order of restraint." 

As Mr. Resbury had not paid " first fruits " until he 
was compelled in January, 1652, the above entry looks 
like a return to him, perhaps with interest, of the amount 
he had paid. 

We know that Oliver Cromwell visited Oundle and 
slept at New House, which may have been the temporary 
quarters of Cornet Samuel Squire. On April 11, 1642, 
Cromwell writes from Ely to the Committee of Associa- 
tion at Stilton : — 

" Dear Friends, 

" The Lord has hardened his [the King's] heart 
more and more : he has refused to hear reason, or to 
care for our Cause or Religion or Peace. Let our friends 
have notice of the sad news. I will be with you 
at Oundle, if possible, early next week ; say Monday, 
as I return now to London this day. ..." 

He writes : — 

"London, 3rd May, 1642. 
" To Mr. Samuel Squire. 
" Dear Friend, 

" I heard from our good friend W. how zealous 
in the good Cause you were. We are all alive here, 
and sweating hard to be at those Papists : may the 
Lord send to us His holy aid to over come them, and 
the Devils who used to do evil. ... I shall come to 
Oundle, on my way down, this time, as I learn you 
live there a great time now. ..." 



THE COMMONWEALTH 83 

" To Mr. Samuel Squire, at his Quarters at Stanground. 

"29th November, 1642. 
" Dear Friend, 

"... Tell W. I will not have his men cut folk's 
grass without proper compensation. If you pass 
mine, say to my Dame I have gone into Essex : my 
house is open to you : make no scruple : do as at 
your house at Oundle, or I shall be cross." 

" To Cornet Squire. 

" 15th March, 1642. 
" Dear Friend, 

" I have no good mind to take Montague's word 
about that Farm. I learn behind the oven is the 
place they hide them, so watch well, and take what 
the man leaves and hang the fellow out of hand and 
I am your warrant. For he shot a boy at Pilton-bee 
by the Spinney, the Widow's son, her only support, 
so God and man must rejoice at his punishment." 

In December, 1643, Squire has his headquarters at 
Fotheringhay. Cromwell is intending to destroy the 
nunnery at Loughborough, and hearing that Squire has 
a cousin there writes urging him to persuade her to leave. 
Squire succeeded in getting his cousin away and took her 
to " our house at Thrapstone." The Squires were really 
a Thrapston family, and one of them built the house now 
known as " Thrapston House," which is occupied by the 
present Rector. 

Perhaps Cromwell, on the occasion of one of his visits 
to Oundle, " sat under " Mr. Resbury and desired to 
bring him to London. He offered him the "Mastership 
of the Temple," as appears by the following letter. 

W. Boteler to Henry Scobell, Esq. (Clerk to the House 
of Commons), requiring an answer (in the Protector's 
name) to several particulars touching the Mastership of 
the Temple, which place his Highness is minded to bestow 
on Mr. Resbury of Oundle. Dated 14 Aug., 1658. 



84 OUNDLE'S STORY 



" Sir, 

" 1. From his highness I was commanded to 
speake with you for resolution & satisfaction in 
theise following particulars : — 

" I. Whether the master of the Temple be to be 
putt in by him by way of presentation, 
or how ? 
"II. Whether he be bound to attend & preach 
among them in terme times & out of 
terme ? 
" III. Or, if, out of terme, an assistant must be 
provided ; then, whether at the charge 
of the master, or how otherwise ? 
" IV. Whether publique prayer in the chapell be 
allwayes performable by the master 
himselfe in terme times ? And whether, 
in time of vacation, it be constantly 
expected from himselfe, or his assistant ? 
" V. What the certain revenue of the master 
is, and how it arises ? 
" 2. Sir, the gentleman his highness intends to 
make master is Mr. Resburie of Oundle, a most 
worthy & learned man, pastor of the church there, 
whereof I my selfe am an unworthy member. 

" 3. The church would be willing (for publique 
good) to spare him in terme times, but will not part 
with him altogether. And in some of the particulars 
aforementioned. Mr. R. is very desirous to be 
satisfy'd ; his highness chiefly in the first. 

" 4. Hearing you were to go abroad (least I should 
not meete with you to-day) I begg of you to leave 
a breife answer to the said particulars, & I shall 
call on your servant for it. 
" Sir, 
" Your truly affectionate humble servant, 

" W 7 . BOTELER. 

"XIV Aug. MDCLVIII. 

"For the honourable Henry Scobell, esq. ; theise." 



THE COMMONWEALTH 85 

Mr.' Resburyjdecided to remain in Oundle. 

William Butler (or Boteler), who wrote the above 
letter, was a son of Neville Butler, of Barnwell, and with 
three brothers was educated at the School, in Oundle. 
His father was Major-General in the Parliamentary Army 
and Knight of the Shire. His brother John, who married 
Elizabeth Brooke, of Great Oakley, was in command of 
troops stationed at Oundle, and afterwards Quarter- 
master-General to Monk's Army at the time of the Res- 
toration. He destroyed the house of the Ferrars at Little 
Gidding and also Lyveden, and used the timber of the 
latter in building the house in Oundle, now called " Cob- 
thorne," owned and occupied by Mrs. J. H. Smith. It is 
interesting to know that included in Cromwell's Great 
Council of Twenty were two " O's " — a Montagu and 
a Pickering, of Barnwell and Tichmarsh respectively. 

In the year 1658 Clement Bellamy, of Yarwell, one of 
Cromwell's officers, devised a portion of his estate to John 
Norton, J.P., of Cotterstock to be used by him for charitable 
purposes. Mr. Norton bought the land now known as 
Barton's Holme, and devoted the rent to apprenticing 
boys and girls, and training at the University youths, 
natives of Oundle, Cotterstock, Glapthorn, and Tansor. 
Mr. Norton died in 1662 and for several years his son John 
Norton duly paid the rent. But his affairs became em- 
barrassed and the payments were not made. At last he 
sold the land to Captain Thomas Barton, without (so it 
is alleged) disclosing the fact of the charge upon it. Capt. 
Barton refusing to pay the rent to the charity, litigation 
lasting ten years ensued. One decision was given by 
the notorious Judge Jeffreys. In 1694 the weary com- 
batants commuted for a payment of £100 by Captain 
Barton and the regular receipt of the rent for the future. 
Each of the four parishes was permitted to reimburse 
itself for its legal expenses out of the funds of the charity. 
It was duly expended as directed until, in one parish, the 
funds had so accumulated that the Trustees paid Dr. Hicks, 



86 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of Oundle, for curing one victim's bad leg and another's 
bad eye, they inoculated divers townsfolk, paid a poor 
man's rent, and fitted out girls for general service. A 
page of benefactors in the Yarwell Church register includes 
a further instance of Mr. Bellamy's generosity. " Clement 
Bellamy Esq r gave the sum of £21 to the poor of Yarwell to 
remain a stock for ever for the relief of them." " Bellamy's 
Charity " is now managed under a scheme put forth by 
the Charity Commissioners, consisting at present of nine 
persons, two appointed by the Urban Council of Oundle, 
two by each of the Parish Meetings of the other three 
parishes concerned, and the writer of this story so long 
as he holds his present office. 

Mr. Resbury's second son, Nathaniel, went up to 
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and took his degree while 
his father was still " Minister" of the Parish Church ; he was 
ordained a clergyman of the Church of England and became 
a popular London preacher, being ultimately appointed a 
chaplain to King William and Mary. It is said of him 
that when preaching on one occasion at the Chapel Royal, 
he took for his text the words, " I am fearfully and wonder- 
fully made." and in the course of his sermon unconsciously 
blackened his face with dye from a new black gown. He 
married Mary Cordell, a widow, a daughter of Robert 
Cuthbert, citizen and goldsmith of London — it is reason- 
able for us to think, a member of the family of the Oundle 
Cuthberts. 

Mr. Resbury either retired or was ejected shortly 
before St. Bartholomew's Day, 1662. He adjourned to a 
house in West Street, where he practised medicine, until 
he was stricken with paralysis. He was buried in the 
church or churchyard on October 29, 1674. At the 
extreme west end of the South aisle of the Parish Church 
will be found a stone in memory of Nathanael Resbury 
Hewit, who died on October 4, 1731, who may have been 
either a relative or namesake, but from the proximity of 
the stone to others of well-known names, a member of 



THE COMMONWEALTH 87 

the body of Independents then formed in Oundle. During 
Mr. Resbury's retirement Dr. Robert Wild was inducted 
to the Rectory of Aynho in this county, on July 22, 
1646, " on the presentation of John Cartwright, and by 
order of the House of Lords." Baker's note (in his 
County History) is " intruded by the Parliamentary 
Visitor." Ejected in 1662, Dr. Wild came to Oundle. 
He was a native of St. Ives, and a graduate of St. John's 
College, Cambridge ; he was preacher of the Assize 
Sermon at Oxford in 1655, which he published separately 
with a dedication to Mr. John Cartwright. He had a 
reputation for facetiousness, so much so that Mr. Baxter, 
when travelling from Kidderminister to London, deter- 
mined to break his journey at Aynho with a view to 
rebuking Dr. Wild. Mr. Baxter arrived during service 
time and adjourned to the church, with the result that 
after service he confessed his intention to the Doctor and 
asked for forgiveness for entertaining such thoughts 
towards him. Dr. Wild was buried on July 30, 1679, Mr. 
Terrewest, " the register," entering the burial thus : — " Rob* 
Wilde, D r in Nonconformity Divinity, Bur d July 30, 1679." 

Mr. Edward Cawthorne of Tanson and Mr. Shepherd 
of Tillbrook each ministered to the body of Independents 
until a permanent chapel was built on the present site in 
West Street, soon after the passing of the Toleration Act, 
by Mr. Joseph Hewson, a draper in the town. A stone in 
memory of members of the Hewson family will be found in 
the North aisle of the Parish Church. The first Vicar of 
Oundle after the Restoration, was Benjamin Dillingham, 
who was appointed by Charles II. in 1663. He was the 
member of a large and rather remarkable family, of 
whom some sixteen came to school in Oundle. One of 
his uncles was one of the translators of the Bible, another 
Rector of St. Dunstan's, London. 

Benjamin's brother William and his nephew Thomas 
were Rectors of Barnwell All Saints in succession, where 
a mural tablet is placed, in what was the original chancel 



88 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of the church, to their memory. The nephew Thomas 
married Elizabeth Pickering, granddaughter of Sir Gilbert 
Pickering of Tichmarsh. Benjamin's eldest brother 
William went to Emmanuel College, where he shared rooms 
with Sancroft, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. 
William Dillingham became Fellow and Master of Em- 
manuel, D.D., and Vice-Chancellor of the University. He 
refused, however, to conform, objecting to the statement 
that an oath taken voluntarily was void and illegal. He 
was ejected from the Mastership and came to live with 
his brother at Oundle Vicarage. He ultimately married a 
second time and retired to the living of Odell in Bedford- 
shire, but was buried at Oundle on May 9, 1672. Mr. 
Benjamin Dillingham had the sorrow of burying his own 
son Benjamin just two years afterwards ; he was himself 
laid to rest on March 15, 1679. Just about this time, 
several well-known figures in the parish were removed by 
death — Richard Darnwell, writing-master at the Latham 
School, and his daughter, Doctor Long, Joseph Darnwell, 
the sexton, and " Will Terrewest, Litle Bookseller," 
who kept the parish registers. 

Between April 29 and October 31, in the year 
1666, there were no fewer than 223 burials in the church- 
yard, and of these 200 died of the Plague, which had been 
borne from the city of London. In addition 23 persons 
also died of the Plague who were not buried in the 
churchyard. Of the 223 buried in the churchyard 105 
were males and 118 females. It is interesting to notice 
that, apart from the Butchers' Row, not one of the 200 
came from houses situate in the main High Street. They 
were mainly from the North End of the town, where the 
property was of a poor description, or in and near the 
Pest House, which was situate at the bottom of Mill Lane, 
near to the south-east corner of the garden of New 
House. It may be that Mr. Boniface Pickering and his 
son, members of the well-known Tichmarsh family, whose 
home was then at New House, and who died of the Plague, 



THE COMMONWEALTH 89 

caught the infection from the proximity of the house to 
the Pest House. The residences of the 200 who perished, 
and were buried in the churchyard, were distributed as 
follows :— North End 102, Pest House 35, Chapel End 4, 
Butcher Row Street 3, Church Lane 5, Berreware Street 15, 
St. Sithe's Lane 6,Elmington 2, Ashton 7, " At a Cabbinl," 
Stoke Bridge Lane 16, Mill Lane 4. 

Loss also came to Oundle indirectly, in this same year, 
through the Great Fire in London, which inflicted great 
damage upon the Grocers' Company from which it took 
a century to recover. Grocers' Hall and all the adjacent 
buildings were destroyed except a certain turret in the 
garden, in which, most fortunately, all documents and 
muniments were kept. Almost all the Company's houses 
were destroyed. 

In the third quarter of the seventeenth century four 
men come into prominence in the social life of Oundle. 
The names of two of these are scarcely known, the other 
two live on. They were Page, Whitwell, Walcot, and 
Creed. William Page and Bridget his wife were at the 
Rectory, which had passed to them from Sir Thomas 
Monson. Mr. Page came from Stibbington, near Wans- 
ford, then strangely described as being in the county of 
Northampton ; he sold the Rectory to Mr. Bernard Walcot 
in 1673. Mr. Bernard Walcot had been possessed of 
property at Cranford, though he lived in London ; he sold 
his Cranford property to Sir James Robinson and came to 
settle in Oundle. Walcot married Miss Elizabeth Page, 
sister of William Page, in 1674, and received £1000 as a 
marriage portion. Members of the Page family were 
educated at the School. Mr. Page died in June, 1678. 
There have thus been four names connected with the 
Rectory since the days of the dissolution of the monas- 
teries — Monson, Page, Walcot, Smith. 

Mr. William Whitwell, whose family, as already men- 
tioned, had owned property in Oundle since 1626, came 
from Richmond, in Surrey, where he had practised as a 

G 



90 OUNDLE'S STORY 

solicitor, to settle in the house now known as the Berry- 
stead, and which was afterwards sold to Mr. Hunt. It 
was the advent of Mr. Whitwell and his marriage which 
determined the naming of his hostelry in New Street as 
" The Talbot," which was the crest of his wife's family — 
the Griffins. The Griffins date back to Ralph Griffin of 
Gumley, in the county of Leicester, who married, about 
1184, Alice, sister of Richard de Weston, and had a son, 
Sir Ralph Griffin, Knight, whose son Sir John married 
Elizabeth, daughter of John Fa veil of Weston Fa veil, 
near Northampton. Their eldest son married a daughter 
of Lord Latimer, who had vast possessions in many places, 
including Braybrooke, near Market Harborough. It was 
as a descendant of this Lord Latimer, on the female side, 
that Field-Marshal John Griffin Wliitwell claimed and 
obtained the Barony of Howard de Walden in 1784, and 
was created Lord Braybrooke on September 5, 1788. 

In 1697, Mr. Whitwell presented to the Parish Church 
a silver cover paten, chalice, flagon, and breadholder. 
On the front of the flagon is engraved " Ex Dono Will. 
Whitwell, Gent." Below the foot of the paten, on the 
front of the cup and flagon, and on the upper surface of 
the bread holder is the crest : A talbot passant. There are 
tokens, amongst several others, extant to-day bearing the 
crest of the talbot and stamped " 1669. Oundle halfpeny 
for the use of the poor," and another, with the talbot crest 
' ' changed by the feoffees. ' ' Other tokens, issued by trades- 
men to obviate the lack of small change, extant are, " W. 
R. Chandler— 1659," " L. H. 1664 " (Lawrence Hanton), 
"Richard Henson, chandler," "John Pashler, 1668," 
" John Audley, tobacconist, 1669," " Henry Coldwell— 
Haberdasher," " William Hull," " John Eaton." 

Mr. Whitwell and Mr. Walcot signed their names side 
by side at the foot of the minutes of Vestry meetings. 
[Judging from the minutes of the period in Oundle, the 
recent custom of requiring all at Committee meetings to 
sign their names is but a revival of these former days.] 



THE COMMONWEALTH 91 

A mural tablet in memory of members of the Whitwell 
family will be found on the external East wall of the 
Parish Church. 

The names of Creed and Walcot are closely connected 
by intermarriage. It is said that John Creed was a 
" native of Oundle," but I can find no actual evidence of 
the fact. The first occurrence of the name in the parish 
registers is—" Mrs. Ann Creed buried 30th June 1691." 
Readers of Pepys' Diary will be familiar with Creed's 
name, who with his wife, " Mrs. Betty Pickering," settled 
at Cobthorne, Oundle. It is clear that Creed's origin 
was of a somewhat lowly character. He appears to have 
begun life as a retainer in the family of Sir Edward 
Montagu, of Barnwell, who became the Earl of Sandwich. 
In consequence of his connection with Lord Sandwich, 
Creed became Secretary to the Tangier Commission. 
Pepys, who was a member of the Commission, had done 
good service to Creed and expected some substantial 
recognition, but was disappointed, for he says (July 18, 
1664) — " Thence home, and Creed with me, and there he 
took occasion to own his obligations to me, and did lay 
down twenty pieces of gold upon my shelf in my closet, 
which I did not refuse, but wish and expected should have 
been more." Some ten weeks later Pepys discusses with 
Lady Sandwich the question of a wife for Creed and 
" proposed Mrs. Wright for him. . . . She desired I would 
take a good time and manner of proposing it, and I said 
I would, though I believed he would love nothing but 
money." It must have come therefore as a shock to 
both Lady Sandwich and Pepys when Creed " broke his 
desire to be a servant to Mrs. Betty Pickering [niece of 
Lord Sandwich], and placed it upon " encouragement 
which he had from some discourse of her ladyship, com- 
mending of her virtues to him, which, poor lady, she 
meant most innocently. She did give him a cold answer, 
but not so severe as it ought to have been ; and it seems, 
as the lady since to my Lady confessed, he had wrote a 



92 OUNDLE'S STORY 

letter to her, which she answered slightly, and was resolved 
to contemn any motion of his therein." But the attrac- 
tions of Creed ultimately found response in the heart of 
Miss Elizabeth Pickering, and they were married early in 
October, 1668. 

Miss Elizabeth Pickering was the daughter of Sir 
Gilbert Pickering, Bart., of Tichmarsh, and second cousin 
of the poet Dryden. She was the wife of John Creed for 
thirty-three years, and was a force in society both in the 
country and in London. They had eleven children, five 
of whom died in infancy ; one, Anne, lived to be a gracious 
child of nine years old, and four only, two sons and two 
daughters, lived to full estate. The children will come 
into line with our story as we tell it in the next chapter. 
Mrs. Creed describes her husband on his tomb in Tichmarsh 
Church as " a wise, learned, pious man, good in every 
relation ; he served his Majesty King Charles ye II. in 
divers honorable employments at home and abroad, lived 
with honour and dyed lamented A.D. 1701." 

There are in the Parish Church, on either side of the 
chancel step, memorials of two men who were neighbours 
in Oundle for some years and died within six months of 
each other. They were John Lewis, apothecary, and 
William Filbrigge, Gent. The name of the latter is well 
known to collectors of tokens, who delight in copying the 
inscription on his memorial brass. Mr. Filbrigge's will, 
which bears date March 8, 1686, is of interest. After 
declaring that he is to be buried in Oundle Church at the 
discretion of his executrix, he says :• — 

" I did formerly surrender my two copyholders lands 
belonging to the manors of Spaldwick and Easton in the 
county of Hunts. All the right I had in a certain estate 
in Easton late my brother John Filbriggs of Easton 
deceased to be disposed of as my last will shall declare. 
I bequeath all the interest that I have in the aforesaid 
in Easton to my sister Jane Filbrigge and her son John 
Filbrigge and the assigns of the said John according 



THE COMMONWEALTH 93 

to the custom &c. Whereas I have £200 in the hands 
of Mr. Reading of Southoe Co: Hunts also £100 in 
the hands of Thomas Smith of Warmington chandler 
and £50 in the hands of Mr. Blewit of Elton and £50 in 
the hands of Mr. Richard Everell of Oundle Woollen 
Draper and £20 in the hands of Mr. Johnson of Polebrook 
these sums to be called in immediately after my decease 
for the more speedy discharge of my debts &c. To my 
sister Mrs. Anne Taylor £5 to buy mourning and to her 
granddaughter 105. to buy her a mourning ring. To my 
loving wife Elizabeth £12 per annum to be paid quarterly. 
I bequeath my messuage or tenement with appurtenances 
in St. Osith's lane in Oundle now in the tenure of Mr. John 
lies worth and others to my said wife and her heirs. To 
my wife for life the chamber wherein I constantly lye also 
one other chamber adjoining thereto commonly called 
the Gentleman's chamber, two little chambers over the 
Backshop one little buttery at the Stailsfoote with con- 
veniency in the yard for laying in wood and coals as also 
the use of the kitchin and the garden to walk in with the 
use of the hall next the street to walk in also the use of 
the well &c. To my wife all my household goods only 
one silver quart tankard with mine coat of arms on it 
which I give to my nephew J. F. of Easton to keep for 
my sake. To the feoffees of Oundle £20 to be put at 
interest at twelve pence in the pound to be given to four 
people each year at St. Stephen's Day. As for the poore 
of Oundle I do mention nothing but shall leave that to 
the discretion of my executrix. ... If my executrix 
cannot let Wakerley Close Bing's Corner and the land &c. 
she is to keep sufficient stock on the land. Whereas I 
have surrendered into the hands of the Lord of the Manor 
of the Rectory and Parsonage of Oundle by the hands of 
Edward Whitwick every the customary tenants all those 
three cottages with the appurtenances in Oundle. . . . 
Whereas my cozen William Late has been very unkind 
in not paying the debt due to me I give him only a ring 
of 205. price and forgive him the debt. ... To my 
cozen Thomas Filbrigge of Oundle £5 per annum for life, 
but if he shall be surly with my executrix and shall not 
be so civil as to rite for her or do what is within his 



94 OUNDLE'S STORY 

capacity my executrix shall have power to stop the 
payment of it. Whereas I have ordered my body to be 
buried in Oundle Church I will my executrix do provide 
a gravestone on purpose to lay thereon with a piece of 
brass thereon engraven. . . . My two closes of pasture 
in the parish of Oundle, Wakerley closes and that close 
of pasture called Bing's Corner in Oundle also all that 
messuage commonly called the Coffee House ... to my 
nephew John Filbrigge of Easton and his heirs my wife 
to enjoy the rooms and privileges granted to her for life. 
Whereas I have been very liberal and beneficial herein 
to my nephew John Filbrigge the better to enable him to 
keep the estate at Easton which on his father I can 
nothing conclude but that God was pleased to brace me 
up to be a support both to the estate name and family 
which hath been falling a long time, yet it hath continued 
in the name of Filbrigges foure or five hundred years, my 
will is that it still be kept in the same, I will if my nephew 
die leaving an heir female my will is whoever marries her 
shall change his name to Filbrigge for the upholding and 
maintaining the said name. . . ." 

The brass bears the following inscription : — 

HERE LYETH BURIED THE BODY 
OF WILLIAM FILBRIGGE GENT 
SONN OF THOMAS FILBRIGGE 
OF EASTON IN COM. HUNT GEN T 
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE IN 
THE 54 th YEARE OF HIS AGE 
MARCH THE 29 th AN DOM 1687. 

Mrs. Filbrigge, the widow, was buried on August 14, 1689. 
The stone of John Lewis bears the following inscrip- 
tion : — 

Jacet sub hoc lapide 

Johannes Lewis 

Hujus Oppidi Pharmacopola 

Necnon Benefactor 

Vir explorata integritate 

Probitate morum 

Sinceritate Amicitiae 

Obedientia Ecclse : Angl : 

Regiq. Fidelitate 



THE COMMONWEALTH 95 

Annumerandus Patribus 

Charus amicis omnibus utilis 

Saeculi Pertaesus Caelo maturus 

Fragilitatem vitae 

Cum Immortalitate commutativit 

3 ti0 die Decembris 

_ Anno Dni_1687 

Hen Porter Gen Execut : 

Unus Gratitudinis ergo. 

In his will, proved only nineteen days after his death, 
Mr. Lewis says : — 

" I give to the Church of Oundle £50 to buy a sixth 
bell which I desire that it may be well done and may be 
cast at London by the care of Mr. Gillbourne in choosing 
the workman and to be done fortwith least like other 
guifts of this sorte it miscarry. ... To Mrs. Katharine 
Porter, wife of Mr. Henry Porter, my diamond ring, with 
a Turkey stone, also my watch. ... To the Right Hon 
Lord Rockingham my ring with a large Turkey stone 
without diamonds. To Mr. Apreece of Washingley my 
mourning (sic) with a diamond. To Mr. Lewellin's son 
David my godson my silver teapot being a gift of his 
good father to me. All my printed books except what 
I give to my servant Thomas Wells I give to Dr. Bentham 
Dr. Farwar Mr. Phillips of Elton and to my nephew 
Mr. Edward Haddon. To Thomas Wells my servant all 
the pieces I have of Dr. Willis works also Monsieur 
Charras Pharmaccepea and Mr. Wiseman's Chirurgery 
in folio. ... I desire my executors to take the advice 
of my trusty friend Mr. Thomas Phillips Curate of Elton 
my will is to be buried by the Buriall of the common 
praer without a sermon and without any expenses whatever 
of ribbons gloves wine or bisket." 

The request of Mr. Lewis as to the quick provision of 
the church bell was duly carried into effect, for the third 
bell in our tower bears the following inscription : — 

EX . DONO . JOHANNIS . LEWIS . DE . OUNDLE . 

APOTHECARII . HENRICUS . BAGLEY . ME . 

FECIT . 1688. 



96 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Both Mr. Filbrigge and Mr. Lews were buried by 
the Reverend Thomas Oley, whose name will be mentioned 
in a list with others in the next chapter. Mr. Oley was 
succeeded in October, 1688, by the Reverend Edward 
Caldwell, who was to be Vicar of Oundle for more than 
thirty years and was well known in the neighbourhood. 
He played many parts, being, in addition to Vicar of the 
parish, Rector of Pilton and, on recommendation of the 
local Trustees, Headmaster of Oundle School. It is not 
surprising that during his mastership the school fell to a 
low ebb, only four boys, including his own son, proceeding 
to the University. He was a man desirous of increasing 
his income by various channels. He makes an entry in 
the parish register thus : " Wid : Harrison in ye 
Church Lane to be payd for by Mr. Tho : Adlom of Dean 
— buried." 

We speak of Mr. Caldwell at this point because of his 
relationship to his brother-in-law Mr. Edward Bedell, 
whose tombstone just west of the sanctuary in the Parish 
Church records that " he gave by his last will to Augment 
this poor Vicaridge 120*- p. ann for ever which Great 
Charity ought to be Gratefully remembered." It is to 
be feared that this record is a " little previous," as the 
bequest cannot now be traced. 

Mr. Bedell was the nephew of Sir Capell Bedell of 
Hamerton, Hunts, and son of Mr. John Bedell, whose 
widow came from Molesworth to settle in Oundle. Mrs. 
Bedell had eight sons, of whom five were educated in 
Oundle School, including our Edward, who was born in 
1627 and entered the school in 1635. He married Miss 
Susan Caldwell, the Vicar's sister. Two of their sons, 
Edward (born 1661) and Henry (born 1667), also attended 
Oundle School. When the elder of these two boys entered 
the School, the parents were living in London, but soon 
after they came to Oundle, as the younger boy Henry 
is entered in 1674 on the School Register as second son 
of " Edward generosi of Oundle," born " in aedibus 






THE COMMONWEALTH 97 

Valentine dictis in parochia de Barking Essex." The 
elder boy, Edward, when leaving school on August 14, 
1677, " abiit Londinum ad deferendum pharmacopaeam." 
Henry, the elder, was Vicar of Southwick in 1692, 
and Bridges records — 

" Mr. Bedle (that is, Henry) the present Vicar is son 
to the late Captain Bedle of Oundle who died in 1693 
and by his last will gave an estate in reversion to the 
value of CXL 1 a year after the death of his only son 
surviving. Mr. Edward Bedles,* Vicar of Southwick, 
in case he died without heirs of his own body, to remain 
in perpetual augmentation of the Vicarage of Oundle on 
condition of paying XV per annum to his sister for life 
and CCC to other relations. 

* He is so named by Dr. Kennett." 

This last reference is evidently to Dr. White Kennett, 
then Bishop of Peterborough, who had apparently made 
a mistake. At any rate it would seem that the kind 
bequest of Captain Bedell remained in his family. I can, 
however, conclude this chapter of the story by referring 
to a gift left by Francis Hodge just before the close of 
the seventeenth century. Mr. Hodge, who was buried 
in the Parish Church, bequeathed by will dated November 
11, 1695, a sum of £20 to the Feoffees of Oundle for the 
provision of bibles to be given by the Minister of the town 
to poor children each Good Friday. 

Mr. Bedell gave to the church the chandelier which 
hangs from the western arch. It bears, on the boss, the 
inscription: "Ex dono Edvardi Bedell, Generosi Anno 
Dni. 1687." 



98 



OUNDLE'S STORY 



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CHAPTER VII 

SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

THE eighteenth century began in circumstances of 
gloom for the little band of the Independent 
congregation in Oundle : for, on January 1, 1700, 
the Cawthornes, the Hewsons, and their friends stood 
round the open grave of Mrs. Hannah Resbury, widow 
of Mr. Richard Resbury, whose body was laid to rest that 
day and the service taken by Mr. Caldwell, the Vicar. 

But let us recall, for the purpose of our story, the name 
of Mr. Caldwell's predecessor — Thomas Oley — who was 
one of the Feoffees of the Oundle Town Charities, whose 
origin, as we have seen from the will of Thomas Franklyn, 
1544, dates certainly from a century earlier. On 
February 22, 1682, a commission, under the Great Seal 
of England, grounded Upon a statute passed in 1601 
to redress the misemployment of lands given to charitable 
uses, was awarded and issued to the then Lord Bishop 
of Peterborough and others, authorising them or any 
four of them to hold certain inquiries. They held such 
an inquiry in Oundle on January 14, 1683, and found 
that on July 11, 1654, the Feoffees of that time, Edward 
Bing, Oliver Hind, John Bing, and Philip Clement, con- 
veyed to Richard Cuthbert, Edward Everell, William 
Billing the Younger, William Jackson, John Andrew, 
Matthew Hunt, John Bonner, Henry Cawthorne, Francis 
Hodge, John Strickson and Daniel James, all of Oundle, 
the lands of the Feoffees to hold as Feoffees for the benefit 

99 



100 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of the inhabitants and poor of Oundle. But at the time 
of the inquiry five of these had died and, of the remaining 
six, some were very old and others had left the town. 
The Commission therefore ordered the surviving Feoffees 
to appoint as their successors Bernard Walcot, Thomas 
Manning, Thomas Oley (the Vicar), William Cuthbert, 
Richard Everell, Richard Gage, Samuel Hunt, William 
Selby, John Lewis, Thomas Allen, George Everell, and 
Daniel Mawley. As a matter of fact, all the old six died 
without appointing any successors at all, and the inherit- 
ance of Oundle's Town Estates descended to William 
Hodge of Kilmarsh, as heir-at-law of Francis Hodge, who 
was the last survivor of the old Feoffees. 

Complaint was then made on behalf of the inhabitants 
of the town, and the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 
revived the Commission, and William Hodge was ordered 
to appoint as Feoffees such of those already mentioned by 
the Commission as were then — on June 25, 1700 — alive 
and resident in the town. Only four of them were 
living, and they were duly appointed, together with John 
Creed, William Walcot, Edward Caldwell (the Vicar), John 
Desbrow the Younger, Richard Bell, Thomas Lee, Robert 
March, John James, Joseph Clarke, Edward Scarrold, 
and John Palmer. 

From time to time since that date successive appoint- 
ments have been made, and at the present time the 
Feoffees consist of a body of men meeting as business 
requires and making up their accounts each St. Stephen's 
Day. 

Let us try to visualise Oundle at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. Some of the names just recorded 
help us to do this in part. Mr. William Walcot was at 
the Rectory, Mr. John Creed at the house now called 
" Cobthorne," Mr. Caldwell at the Vicarage. Mr. Stephen 
Bramston, a lawyer, was at Bramston House, and Mr. 
Whitwell also practised as a solicitor. In a few years he 
was to sell his house — the present Berrystead — to Mr. 





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SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 101 

Hunt. Mr. William Cuthbert, spoken of as Squire 
Cuthbert, and Mr. Aubrey Davies were also prominent 
inhabitants. Mr. Jeremiah Ashton, whose memorial slab 
is in the west crossing of the Church, a very good Overseer, 
was a grocer, as also Mr. John Pashler. John Darnwell 
was sexton, and received the sum of lOcZ. for digging 
the grave and ringing the bell at each funeral. As is well 
known, the law required in those days that all bodies 
should be buried in woollen. This was done in order to 
help the woollen trade, and the cost of the burial of a 
poor person who had depended upon parochial relief was 
about 9s. 6d. The items were as follows : — 

for Laying out of Goody Rands 
for Bread & Beer at the Buriall 
for Flannil for Goody Rands 
to W m Rose for Avidavie for G. Rands 
or 

for a Coffin for Haslock's wife & woole bread & 

beer & bell & grave 00 09 

A comparison of these two entries will bring before 
us the picture of a poor person's funeral. The " avidavie " 
took the place of the present Registrar's certificate. It 
is sad to find a resolution dated April 14, 1707, over the 
signature of Ed. Caldwell (the Vicar), Wm. Whitwell, 
Wm. Walcot, and others to this effect : " It is this day 
agreed that no more coffins shall be allowed for Poor 
people for the future," but it is pleasing to know that 
public feeling in the town made it impossible for this 
resolution to be put into actual practice. The item for 
" bread and beer " at funerals appears in the accounts 
of the Latham Trustees until comparatively recent times. 

John Darnwell, who was sexton until his death in 
October, 1740, acted often with Joseph -Bing and William 
Rose in summoning the townsmen for necessary meetings. 
These three were the messengers of the town and made 
themselves useful generally. 

P d Rose & Darnwell for toleing the Bell when 

the Townsmen met for Burialls ... ... 00 01 



102 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Presumably this was on occasions of the deaths of 
well-known inhabitants. Joseph Bing summoned Vestry 
and other meetings. 

& s. d. 
To Jo a Bing to Cryeing for the Townsmen to 

meet 00 00 04 

Spent at the makeing of the tax ... ... 00 09 

When we come to inquire how this 95. was made up 
we get rather interesting revelations, e.g. : — 

To pipes and tob: at y e Vestry 00 00 7 

But the townsmen were fond of meeting at various 
houses for the transaction of business : — 

Expended at W m Worlidge's w n ye Townsmen 

settling ye Rates 00 04 6 

Expended w n ye Townsmen at Mr Whitwell's 00 01 4 
Spent at Eliz. Stevens at 2 meetings about the 

Burialls 00 02 6 

The townsmen did not meet at Mr. Whitwell's private 
house, but at his well-known house of welcome, the present 
Talbot Hotel. 

Expended w n the Levy was made & at the Delivery of the 
Books at ye Talbot. 

An interesting find helps me to throw a little further 
light upon the life of Oundle at this very time. There 
has come into my hands what was originally the note- 
book of the Hon. Henry Fane, son of the Earl of West- 
morland, of Apethorpe, who was articled (in 1700) to 
Mr. Morriss of Spring Gardens, London, as a medical 
student. But after Mr. Fane had made a few notes he 
discarded the book, which fell into the hands of John 
Arney, keeper of the deer. Here are a few of his notes : — 

"Bills to pay. Mr. Ryly 4 17 0. Mr. Cuthbert 
13 4. Mr. Whitwell for malt 1 12 0. Mr. Nichols, 10 0." 

Mr. Ryly was the draper in Oundle and Mr. Nichols 
the shoemaker. 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTHJCENTURY 103 

" An account of the bucks we killed with y e Hounds 
in Crosshand Walk July 18. Mr. Barton (that was of 
Cotterstock), Mr. Cuthbert (Oundle), each a piece — y e 
house the other half." 

" Tuesday Aug. y e 12 in y e Spaw / Mr. Caldwell [the 
Vicar of Oundle] Mr. Gurney James Ashley — the House." 

And so from time to time Arney brought kind gifts of 
venison to Oundle and made his purchases in the town. 

Including the hamlet of Elmington there were at this 
time 387 ratepayers in Oundle, and a rate of 6d. in the 
pound brought in £154 4s. lOd. The amount of shops, 
etc., in the town may be gauged by the number of appren- 
tices then bound to trades by the overseers of the poor. 
The overseers were enabled to do this, with the con- 
firmation of the Indentures by two magistrates, under 
an Act of Elizabeth, in 1601. This power continued until 
1844, when it passed to Boards of Guardians, who can 
apprentice without confirmation except in the case of 
binding to sea, which requires endorsement by the 
magistrates. In 1701 there were in the town 12 appren- 
tices who had been bound by the overseers. Their names 
and periods of service were as follows : — 



Edith and Elleanor Lane to Widdow Quincey 

Rebecca Stevens to Edward Oxenford 

Francis Hales to Willm Charter ... 

Eliz. Appleby to Richard Barnes... 

Jane Green to Steph. Harrison ... 

Anne Green to Tho : Pashler 

Henry Wright to Robert England 

Rich d Strickson to Tho : Skinner 

Jane Strickson to Tho Richardson 

John Grey to Willm. Grey 

Ann Haddon to Mrs. Glasborow ... 

Mary Haddon to Widdow Haddon 



5 years 
4 
5 
9 
7 
4 
7 
12 
6 
8 
5 
6 



What would the modern apprentice say to the 
average term of apprenticeship as shown above ? There 
lies before me an indenture endorsed by brothers-in- 
law as magistrates, namely, John Creed and Elmes 
Steward. The latter married Mr. Creed's sister, and 



104 OUNDLE'S STORY 

lived at Cotterstock. The family of Steward came 
from Pattishall in this county (Northampton) and inter- 
married with the Elmes of Warmington and Lilford. 
The Elmes probably gave their name to Elmington. The 
apprentice was to dwell with the employer and " faithfully 
to serve in all lawful businesses according to his power 
and ability ; and honestly, orderly, and obediently in all 
things demean and behave himself toward his Master and 
all his." The Master covenants " to teach and instruct " 
the apprentice in the " occupation he now useth and pro- 
fesseth," and to provide and allow him " competent and 
sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel, Lodging, Washing and 
all other things necessary and fit for an apprentice . . . 
and, at the end of the term, " with double apparel of all 
sorts ... a good suit for the Holy days and another for 
the Working Days." There is no mention of money 
wages. 

The law of domicile, with respect to poor persons, was 
at this time carefully guarded, and the certificates from 
other parishes " to secure the town against their mainten- 
ance were entrusted to the keeping of Mr. Stephen 
Bramston, the solicitor. Most of these poor people living 
in the town were from neighbouring parishes, but in 1701 
two fresh arrivals from a distance were recorded, one from 
" Melton-Mobury " and the other from " St. Bytolphs 
in Middx." 

The indentures for binding the apprentices were duly 
drawn up by a solicitor, as e.g. : "To Mr. Whitwell for 
writing 4 pairs of indentures, 00.16.00." To-day we speak 
not of " pairs " but of " indentures in duplicate." There 
seems also to have been a real care and guardianship 
exercised with reference to the apprentices, for on the 
" 26th April 1703, at the Vestry there was a general con- 
sent of y e Townsmen that W 1 " Gimber should be released 
of his apprentice Edw d Lee he being very infirm." " Ye 
Townsmen " seem to have been moved and directed in 
those days by an inner cabinet, for on another occasion a 



£ 


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d. 


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SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 105 

resolution was passed whereby "It is hereby agreed that 
there shall no person bring any bill or doe any business 
upon y e townes acct without the order of the overseers 
or Some of the Chief Townsmen." The overseers were 
more moderate when doing their business for the town 
than the Vestry, if we may judge from the following : — 

Myself and horse to Northampton 

Exp** at Northampton for myselfe and horse 

Night charge at Wellingboro Exp 8 at Thrapston 

P d for an order of Sessions 

P d y e Attorney att Law 

pd ye Oryer of y e Court 

One or two other items of conveyance are interesting : — 

To John Gray for a horse to carry hogg's 

Daughter to Bennefield 
My horse to Clopton & Expenses 
for carrying a cripple to Glapthorne ... 
To Goody Merreden to carry her to London ... 
Pd James Knight for goeing to Mr. Tryon's 

spent at Bridewell to put Ann Thrift there 00 02 

We have already spoken of Mr. Byley, who was the 
chief draper in the town in 1700. The tailor's name was 
Bodger. The clothing of the town apprentices averaged 
from £2 155. to £3. 

P d Mr. Ryley for cloath and drimming for 
Southwell's boy 

P d for 3 shirts & Cravatts 

P d for 2 pr of shoos 

Pd for a pair of Leather Breeches & hat 

Pd for a dillywilly Wascott & pr of Stockings 

Pd for making his Cloaths 

Pd money with him & Indentures 

Tailors' wages were not extravagant in those days : — 

for making Tho Raynor's suit of cloths* 
To Goodman Abbot for making 2 Gowns 
To W m Read — one pair of Shoes 

Food prices were different, or the " Dyet " very light : — 
To Charter for Alice Clifton's Dyet 4 Days ... 00 01 4 



01 06 
00 09 
00 04 
00 04 
00 04 
00 06 
04 07 



6 
11 
5 
5 
6 
6 


e days : 


: — 


00 04 
00 06 
00 02 


6 





106 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Neither the National Health Insurance Act, nor the 
panel doctor, was any trouble in Oundle in 1700. They 
arranged these matters in a more practical way — 

Spent in bargaining w th y e Docteres for y e Cure 

of Goody Flowers' Daughter and Freese ... £0 1 

There appears also to have been a birth bounty, as 
very often we find entries as : "To Tobias Strickson for 
the Birth of a Child, 2d." 

The right-hand side of the road leading from the end 
of North Street to the Railway Station is often spoken of 
as " Rotten Row." I do not know what may have been 
the origin of its London cognomen. The explanation for 
the name in Oundle is interesting. At the beginning of 
the eighteenth century the town's poor lived in fifteen 
different houses in various parts of the town, and their 
rents were paid by the overseers. They amounted for 
the year 1700 to a total of £16 05. 6d. But it was decided 
to build, in addition, some " Towne houses " on the site 
now called " Rotten Row," and a perusal of the items 
of their cost will show how truly they deserved the 
name which still lives on. Perhaps the low stone wall 
forming the boundary fence of the field to-day is a relic 
of them : — 



The ace* ofw* y e Towne houses lay in building 
To Jno Cardinal for wood & work 
To Jno Woodman for all the tareing work . . . 
To Jn° Cardinall for y e Stone wall ... 
to for 3 days worke in Clearing y e ground . . . 
To Swanscome for 9 days worke digging 

morter & 
to for 2 days more 
to for 

to for 5 Load of Straw... 
to Mr. Bell's man 
to for caridge of y e Hey 
to for 26 Bundles of Reed 
to Swanscome for clearing ye House . . . 
to 17 days & \ thaching 
to p d for serving of thacher 



5. 



2 








2 


2 








8 








2 


8 





5 


3 





1 


2 








S 


1 


5 











6 





1 


4 





6 


6 





4 


6 





17 


6 





11 


8 





1 


6 



£ 


s. 


d. 








6 








4 





2 


8 





8 


2 





2 


8 





5 








8 


8 





4 








5 


10 





6 


8 





7 


6 








n 





6 


H 





2 


6 





1 








8 


9£ 





6 


6| 


22 


6 


4 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 107 



to three Bundles of Rodds 

to 1 Bottle more 

to for 4 locks and 6 Staples ... 

to Williamson's men 7 days ... 

to his boy 4 days ... ... ... -. 

to Jno Woollman and Jno Allin for und 

mining y e houses 

to for 6 hundred & \ of hey at 10 d 

to for 3 hundred hey more 

to for caridge of y e straw 

to Jn° Mawley for 5 load more 

to p d for caridge of y° stone ... 

to for Nayls for Wid Quincey's house 

to Morris green for ale givn to all y e workmen 

and Labourers 
to for 1 post 2 pools and work for ye end ... 
to for scouring up ye dike 
to f or glaizing ... 
p d Tho a Willows for Locks & plookes 



The above throws a light on wages and prices of 
material two centuries ago. 

There was living at Clopton, six miles away, at this 
time one who took a kindly interest in Oundle. This was 
Sir Matthew Dudley, a prominent magistrate and a man 
of wide sympathies. The latter may have been some- 
what due to the influence of his wife ; for he married the 
niece and heir to Sir Paul Pinder (who was born at 
Wellingborough), the ambassador to Turkey in the reign 
of James I., and who sold the great diamond for the 
crown jewels to Charles I. for £18,000. Two extracts 
from the Clopton parish registers record as follows : — 

"Matthew Dudley son of S r William Dudley, Sir 
& Dame Mary his wife was borne on ye first day of 
October (1661) between 8 or 9 of ye clocke in ye morning 
and baptised on ye 6 th day of ye same month." 

" 1721. S r Matthew Dudley Bart, of this Parish dyed 
at London y e 13 of Apr and was Buryed in this church 
the 21 of the same month." 



108 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Sir Matthew was Commissioner of the Customs and 
Sheriff of the County, and Member of Parliament. He 
entered school at Oundle in 1668, and his brother William in 
1675. His sister married Sir John Robinson of Cranford. 
Sir Matthew tried to increase business in Oundle and 
introduced the trade of making " serges, tamies, and 
shaloons." He brought Flemish weavers into the town, 
and their chief man was commonly spoken of as " Philip 
Flanders." Comings and goings between Clopton and 
Oundle in connection with this work are very frequent. 
Joseph Ring received several pennies for calling the 
" spinners " to meet Sir Matthew, who was backed up by 
the " chief townsmen." " Phillip Flanders " received " for 
25 wheels as by pticulars, £3 2. 6." — and from time to 
time Philip was busy mending " wheels " or " reels " at 
one shilling a time. Apparently, with the death of Sir 
Matthew Dudley the weaving industry in Oundle died also. 

Receipts came sometimes for the benefit of the poor 
otherwise than by rates, e.g. Mrs. Rlackblock was fined 
£2 105. Od. " for her husband being bury d in Linnen." 
Thomas Course was also fined thirteen shillings for 
fishing in the water of Mr. Cuthbert, who had the fishing 
rights from Stoke dam to Ashton. In each case the 
money paid was spent in the interest of the poor. 

Having obtained a general view of society in Oundle 
at the beginning of the eighteenth century, we can turn 
to view more closely the doings of individuals. Mr. John 
Creed died in 1701, and his son, Colonel John Creed, 
succeeded him at Cobthorne. The widow, who had also 
her town house, took up her abode at Rarnwell. The 
house is no longer standing but the site and terraces can 
be seen quite plainly in the field immediately to the South 
of the chancel of Rarnwell All Saints. She was a lady of 
artistic and literary tastes. Two specimens of her work 
may be seen at Ashton, one in the altar piece, now covered 
by curtains, in the chapel ; the other, a painting of her 
daughter Jemima, in the schoolroom adjoining. 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 109 

Her son, Major Richard Creed, who entered Oundle 
School in 1679, was killed at the battle of Blenheim in 
1704. A monument to his memory, as also to his father 
and other members of the family, will be found in the 
South aisle of Tichmarsh Church. But Mrs. Creed also 
caused one to be placed in Westminster Abbey, upon which 
the inscription is as follows : — 

" To the Memory of the Honoured Major Richard 
Creed who attended His late Majesty King William y e 
Third in all his Wars during his reign ev'ry where signal- 
izing Himself and nevermore Himself than when he looked 
an enemy in the Face. At the glorious battell of Blenheim 
a.d. 1704 He commanded one of those squadrons that 
began y e attack. In two several charges he remained 
unhurt. But in y e third after Many Wounds received, 
stil valiantly fighting, He was shot through ye Head. 
His dead body was brought off by his Brother at the 
Hazard of his own life & buried There. 

" To His Memory his Sorrowful Mother Here Erects 
this Monument placing it near another which her Son 
when living used to look upon with pleasure for the worthy 
mention it makes of that great man Edward Earl of 
Sandwich to whom he had y° honour to be related & 
whose Heroic virtues he was ambitious to imitate. He was 
y° eldest Son of John Creed of Oundle Esq. & Elizabeth 
his Wife only Daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering Baronet 
of Tichmarsh in Northamptonshire." 

Major Richard Creed made his will on April 4, 1702, 
and left to his sister Jemima " The Laws Holme or Twenty 
acres of meadow lying by or near Aston bridge in North- 
amptonshire." But whereas his brother John of Oundle 
was his heir-at-law, John on April 27, 1705, with a view 
to avoiding " all controversies touching the construction 
of the said will ... at the request of his mother and in 
consideration of the settlement " of Cobthorne in Oundle 
upon him by his mother, conveyed the meadow to his sister 
Jemima. 

Miss Jemima Creed died on February 23, 1705, having 



110 OUNDLE'S STORY 

made her will, wherein she is described as "of the parish 
of St. Martin in the melds in the city and liberties of 
Westminster. Having humbly and thankfully resigned 
her soul ' into the hands of Almighty God as to a most 
gracious fiat her and Mercifull Redeemer ' " she bequeathed 
Law's Holme to her mother and her heirs upon trust to 
settle the same, upon the advice of Counsel, for such 
charitable uses and purposes as she should think fit, 
but more especially, if her mother should approve, for 
bringing up and instructing the poor children of Aston 
{sic) to read and write and for a schoolmaster to read 
prayers and some good books to the said poor children 
when the badness of the weather would not permit them 
to go to Oundle Church. After bequests to her brother 
and her brother-in-law, Elmes Stewart and Mrs. Stewart, 
and her sister Dorothy and Mrs. Richards, a cousin, 
Jemima leaves the rest of her estate to her mother. 

A record of the virtues of Jemima Creed will be found 
under her picture in the Ashton Schoolroom, where it is 
stated that her — 

" memory will be always sweet to the Lovers of Religion 
and Vertue : Being a rare example of early and constant 
Piety, Modesty, Humility and Charity. Admired for 
the singular Beauty of her Body and the great endewments 
of her mind ; being Prudent, Discreet, Ingenious, adorned 
with vertue, excellent in every good thing. ... To be 
good and to do good was the business of her life. And 
being by the Grace of God always fited for a better life, 
He was pleased in the flower of her age to take her out of 
this. . . . She was the Daughter of John Creed of Oundle 
Esq. by Elizabeth his wife only daughter of Sir Gilbert 
Pickering Bart. She departed this Life the 23 of Feb. 
Anno Dom. 1705 and lies intered at Tichmarsh amongst 
her pious ancestors." 

Inscriptions within the chapel record the bequest, 
but state also that it was always the intention of John 
Creed, sen., to devote Law's Holme to some charitable 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HI 

use, which, however, he left unfinished. " To add to which 
The R* Honourable the Lady Viscountess Hatton bought 
a piece of ground adjoining and gave it to the School for 
ever together with a Cottage and Commons for a cow and 
5 sheep." Mrs. Creed, in compliance with her daughter's 
will, on January 20, 1708, conveyed Law's Holme to 
Trustees together with the Play Close at Ashton and the 
School House and School which she had erected thereon, 
upon trust to elect a schoolmaster to " teach the Children 
of Ashton to read, write, and cast accounts and instruct 
them in the principles of the Christian Religion according 
to the Catechism of the Church of England, and on all 
Sundays in the afternoon, between Michaelmas and Lady 
Day, and on all other Sundays when the badness of the 
weather will not permit the Inhabitants of Ashton to go to 
the Parish Church of Oundle, then and there in the School 
House or Chapel to read the Evening Service of the Day 
out of the Book of Common Prayer, and a sermon or 
homily or such other good book as the Vicar of Oundle 
shall appoint." The appointment of schoolmaster is to be 
subject to the approval of Mrs. Creed, and after her death 
of her son John Creed, and after his decease of his heirs 
male or female. The Trustees are to let Law's Holme at 
the most improved rent and to suffer the schoolmaster to 
use the same for his own use and benefit. The Vicar of 
Oundle is always to be a trustee but the Mastership is 
not to be attached to the Vicarage of Oundle. For some 
years the Vicar of Oundle preached an annual sermon in 
the chapel and received a fee of 2 guineas for so doing, 
but in 1844 The Rev d . Joshua Nussey obtained a licence 
for regular service and since that date services have been 
held each Sunday afternoon. 

[Ashton Chapel mentioned by Somerset's Commis- 
sioners stood on the site of the Manor House.] 

The first master of the school was Mr. Basil Jasper, 
who resigned, and upon his resignation Mrs. Creed, after 
the grande dame manner, drew up a deed of appointment 



112 OUNDLE'S STORY 

whereby she did on January 4, 1724, " nominate appoint 
and constitute Mr. Rich d Jones of Oundle to be master of 
the said school at Ashton to supervise and direct the same 
and either by himself or his sufficient deputy to teach the 
scholars, &c." It is quite clear that Mr. Jones, who 
was Headmaster of Sir Wm. Laxton's School in Oundle, 
could not carry out this work personally, but it would 
please Mrs. Creed greatly to know that he was master, if 
only nominally, of her little school at Ashton. " Creed's 
Charity," as nowadays it is commonly called, is managed 
under a scheme put forth in recent years by the Charity 
Commissioners. 

Now we may relate the story of another interesting 
educational bequest. The Vicar of Oundle — Mr. Caldwell 
■ — must, I feel, be credited with a certain amount of credit 
in this matter, as it seems probable the bequest may have 
been due to a certain amount of persuasion on his part. 
Mr. Caldwell, who was also Headmaster of the School and 
Rector of Pilton, died in 1717. The entry in Pilton 
Register is as follows : — 

" 1717. Mr. Edw d Caldwell, Rector of this Parish, 
Buried January 17 th Affidavit was made and brought me. 
Will Sanderson." 

" An account of ye Money collected for briefs in ye 
Parish of Pilton since October 13, 1717 — there being no 
Brief Book provided nor ace 8 kept by Mr. Caldwell or his 
curate as ye Act of Parliam fc for Briefs directs — Ch Law- 
rence Rector 1717." 

Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor of Hargrave had two sons at 
school in Oundle. The Rector of Hargrave was Mr. 
William Bedell, to whom Mr. Caldwell was distantly 
related by marriage. By her will in 1697 Mrs. Taylor 
gave to Mr. Henry Lee, Rector of Tidmarsh, Mr. Edward 
Caldwell, Master of the free Grammar School of Sir 
William Laxton in Oundle, and to Mr. William Bedell, 
clerk of Hargrave aforesaid, in trust for a poor boy learned 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 113 

and bred in the said free school of Sir Wm. Laxton in 
Oundle, i.e. towards the educating and maintaining one 
poor boy and to buy him books until such boy shall be 
fit to be put to the University, and till such time as he 
shall be fit and capacitated to take his degree of Bachelor 
of Arts, or after such person shall leave or forbear to be 
learned in the said school not being preferred to the 
University and no further three acres of meadow, 
tythe free, in the meadows of Warmington which she had 
lately purchased of Mr. John Worthington of Irthling- 
borough. Upon the death or removal of every school- 
master and the settling in of another the said trustees or 
the survivor were to convey the land to themselves, and 
such other trustees as they should think meet, the school- 
master always to be one to continue the said charitable 
use for ever. On May 18, 1719, the Rev. John Jones, who 
succeeded Mr. Caldwell as Headmaster, was so appointed, 
and on February 20, 1722, a similar conveyance was made, 
including the new schoolmaster the Rev. Richard Jones. 
Again in 1762 and in 1783 Samuel Murthwaite and John 
Evanson, schoolmasters, were appointed. In the latter 
year Mr. Murthwaite had resigned and is described as 
" Clerk, of Desborough." 

A few years ago the members of the Warmington 
Parish Council, in perusing their parish award, came 
across the following sentence : — 

" Unto and for William Walcot and Edward Hunt 
Esquires and Samuel Murthwaite clerk, feoffees in trust 
for a scholar educated in the free Grammar School of 
Oundle aforesaid the piece or parcel of freehold land of 
ground containing two acres and thirty three perches 
lying and being in the upper meadow aforesaid, &c." 

They came to the very natural conclusion that this 
was intended for a parishioner of Warmington, and 
approached the Headmaster of Oundle accordingly. 
The latter, in the absence of information, acceded to their 



114 OUNDLE'S STORY 

representations. It seems clear to me, however, that Mrs. 
Taylor endowed, though with a small sum, an open 
exhibition ; and that it is simply a coincidence that the 
income is derived from a field in the parish of Warmington. 
The ticket of allotment from the Enclosure Commissioners 
was handed to the Trustees in November, 1774. At that 
time the scholar holding the exhibition was an Oundle 
boy, Thomas, son of John and Anna Naylor, who was 
baptised in the Parish Church on September 28, 1757, 
and he was succeeded by another Oundle boy, William, 
son of John and Martha Campion, also baptised here, on 
February 4, 1766. William Campion' s father was a surgeon 
in the town. 

The press gang were busy in Oundle in the first quarter 
of the eighteenth century, and often we find that money 
was allowed to a poor woman " when her husband was 
pressed." Soldiers were stationed in the town and sad 
consequences often followed their unrestrained conduct. 
The gravestone of a " Trooper " is in the narrow alley 
leading into the South chapel of the church. At this time 
they were under the command of a Major Fair child, and 
entries in the parish register reveal lack of affection and 
unhappiness in his home : — 

" Elizabeth — wife of Major Fairchild — buried Oct. 18, 
1704." 

" Major Fairchild and Mary Groocock both of this 
parish (were married) by licence Dec. 28, 1704." 

" Mary wife of Major Fairchild buried Sep. 26, 1705." 

At the end of October, 1713, Mr. Edward Hunt, who 
had been living but a short time at the present Berrystead, 
died. It was perhaps in memory of her husband that 
his widow gave some sixteen years afterwards (1729) two 
large silver almsdishes and two collecting plates used 
regularly in our services to-day. They are inscribed with 
the words : " The Gift of Mrs. Alice Hunt, Widow, to the 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 115 

Church of Oundle, Com. Northton." The family of Hunt 
is descended from Rowland Hunt of Boreatton, Salop 
(born May, 1629), who, by his second wife, had with other 
issue Thomas Hunt (born 1669), who married Jane, 
daughter of Sir Edward Ward of Stoke Doyle and Waden- 
hoe, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. 

Colonel John Creed and Mr. Mawley, as we have seen, 
were co-feoffees. They were also fellow sportsmen and 
often shot with another friend, the Rev. Mark Lewis 
of Benefield. At this time the Duke of Powys, the ancestor 
of the Earl of Powys of Powys Castle, Welshpool, was 
Lord of the Manor of Oundle and Biggin. On April 26, 
1720, these three sportsmen obtained from him the right 
" To Hunt, Hawk, Ffysh, fowle " in the united parish. 
This second Duke of Powys owned property in North- 
amptonshire. He died in 1745, and the Northamptonshire 
estate was sold in 1758. The estate consisted of the manors 
and reputed manors of Upper Heyford, Lower Heyford, 
Glasthorpe and Newbold, also Dodford woods, etc. The 
second Duke was the son of William Earl of Powys who 
was created a Marquis and Duke by James II. He was 
outlawed by William III. on account of his loyalty to 
James II. and because he would not return to this country 
and swear allegiance to William. The Dukedom, though 
perfectly legal, appears never to have been recognised by 
Parliament. Perhaps the Duke thought it of more import- 
ance to recover his confiscated estates than to sit as a 
Duke in Parliament. He was, however, always called 
Duke. The title became extinct on the death of the third 
Duke. 

" Clifton's Charity " for the Blind dates from this 
period, although it was not available until sixty years 
afterwards. It was left by John Clifton by his will dated 
January 29, 1723, to the Feoffees of the Town Estates for 
the benefit of two blind persons, and consisted of £300 
to be paid after the death of Elizabeth's Goodliffe, the 
testator's sister. If there should be only one blind person 



11(3 OUNDLE'S STORY 

the other half should be given to such old men in the 
Laxton Hospital as the Feoffees should think most in 
need of it. If there should be no blind person then the 
whole should be so distributed. 

In 1724 the Trust Deed of the " Independents " in 
Oundle was executed and they became, as recorded in the 
Parish Church registers from time to time, " a separated 
congregation " with Mr. Daniel Goodrich as their pastor. 
He was a man of great piety and well known in Noncon- 
formist circles in this county and beyond. From time to 
time we get entries in our registers which testify to his 
zeal, e.g. " It is certified under the hand of D. Goodrich 
(Teacher of a separate congregation in this Town) that 
Joseph and Benjamin sons of Mr. John Hodgkin were by 
him baptised August 9, 1739." Mr. Goodrich was buried 
on March 1, 1765, and his memorial stone is in the South 
aisle of our church, quite near to the West crossing. 

In the autumn of 1741 there had been quite an epidemic 
of military marriages. Perhaps the soldiers were on the 
move. " John Genner, a Soldier, quartered in the town 
and Elizabeth Smith of Ashton in this parish were married 
by Banns, Aug. 23, 1741." " Saunders Hews a Soldier 
and Anne Arbour, Sept r 27, 1741." " John Parry, 
Lieut, and Mrs. Mary Shute of this parish married by 
lie. Sept. 29, 1741." " Richard Randall of the 
second Regiment of Foot Guards and Susannah Riddell 
of Cotterstock marry d by lic ce , Oct. 27, 1741." 

Two years after this (1743) there was an occasion for 
much excitement concerning military movements in the 
town. The Black Watch had been moved from Edin- 
burgh to London, where Jacobite opponents of the 
Government persuaded them they were to be sent over- 
seas. A good number of them started for Scotland again 
and succeeded in reaching as far as Oundle, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Oundle Wood, before they were overtaken. 
They were marched back to London again and three of 
them shot as a warning to the rest. 



SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 117 

We spoke at the opening of this chapter of Mr. Stephen 
Bramston, a solicitor, whose name is perpetuated by the 
house, now a part of Oundle School, called after him. In 
this same year (1743) of the military incident just referred 
to, Mr. Bramston gave to Latham's Hospital a warehouse 
adjoining the North Bridge, the rent of which was to go to 
the increase of the salary of the writing master, upon 
condition that such master should instruct gratis such 
of Mr. Bramston's children and kindred, not being above 
two at a time, whose surname should be Bramston. One 
of these latter, with other members of the family, is com- 
memorated on a mural tablet in the North transept of the 
church. The Rev. James Yorke Bramston, who erected 
that tablet, was born in Oundle and educated at The 
School, and went to Trinity College, Cambridge. He was 
received into the Roman Catholic Church, and went to 
Portugal. He worked among the English garrison in 
Lisbon, especially during the plague. He became Vicar 
Apostolic of the Roman diocese of London. 

Mr. Bramston's brother-in-law, Mr. Edward Yorke, 
the Vicar, makes a special note of a sad fatality — 

" 14 May 1750, William Woods James Loakes and 
John Talbot three young Journeymen Jersey combers 
in this Town bathing in the River near the Town at a 
place called Basset Stanch were all drown d together and 
were buryed in one Grave by E. Yorke, Vicar May 16." 

A few years before this (1746) there passed from Oundle 
society a man we feel we should like to have known, 
though he may have been a thorn in the side of the 
professional men. His tablet on the North wall of the 
chancel records — 

" Near this place lies inter'd the body of William Raper, 
Gent, a man of truth. He studied physick all his life, 
not for profit but for the pleasure of doing good. He died 
24 June 1746, aged 72." 



118 OUNDLE'S STORY 

It will be remembered that Mr. Murthwaite came to be 
Headmaster in 1762. He appears to have been energetic 
but not to have met with great success. In the first three 
years he secured only four new boys ; in 1765 six local 
boys entered the school including Dr. Walcot's son. 
Mr. Murthwaite, as many of his predecessors and successors, 
acted as assistant curate to the Vicar. It is commonly 
thought that assistant clergy are of modern days only. 
We have already shown that in Oundle this was not so. 
So towards the close of the eighteenth century, on June 
4, 1780, Rev. J. Loddington came as curate, and left on 
June 27, 1785 ; he was succeeded by Rev. J. Farrer, and he 
again by Rev. Thomas Stonhewer Bright. Mr. Loddington 
returned as Vicar in 1796. 

We conclude our review of the eighteenth century with 
two notes which we shall recall towards the end of our 
story. 

" 22 Feb. 1781. W m Bodgener appointed Clerk to this 
Parish." 

" May 7, 1793. George, son of Thomas and Mary 
Jinks, baptised by J. Sharpe a Papist Priest." 

[In addition to the tombstones mentioned in the 
course of the story, there are three in the churchyard 
which are of interest : John Sugars, near the East gate ; 
Richard Mason, opposite the Chancel (East) window; 
and the May tomb, at the South-west corner of the 
Tower.] 



CHAPTER VIII 

" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS AND OUR FATHERS 
HAVE TOLD US " 

THERE is extant an excellently drawn and coloured 
plan of part of the parish made in 1799, which 
might almost pass for a present-day drawing. 
The area depicted extends from the road leading out of 
East Road to Heme Lodge towards the bottom of North 
Street, thence along Station Road — marked as Rotten Row, 
but the houses had disappeared — to the North bridge and 
by the river to Ashton Meadow and so back to Dodmore 
Corner. The plan is in the forefront of a volume on Land 
Surveying, by Thomas Dix, Usher of Oundle School in the 
days of Dr. Bullen, who greatly revived the school after 
Mr. Evanson. The latter was obliged to resign for cruelty. 
" He used to lick all the boys, but he beat me most," said a 
scholar. Thomas Dix's name may be seen with several 
others inscribed on the wall of the old School House in the 
School cloisters. 

The plan is of interest, as showing that fields were 
enclosed in their present areas before the date of the parish 
award. Perhaps Mr. Dix assisted the local Commissioners 
in their work. His book ran into four editions, the fourth 
being issued in 1819, and might be used to-day, almost as it 
is, as a manual of instruction on land surveying. 

Oundle Brewhouse had been built in 1775 and 
particulars of its building reveal that very little progress 
had been made in the wages of the worker in three-quarters 

119 



120 OUNDLE'S STORY 

of a century. A plasterer's wages were 7s. a week. A 
load of stone cost Is. or Is. 6d., a load of gravel 6d., a load 
of straw 155., the contract for sinking a well £6. Bricks 
were 24s. a thousand. Oundle wharf was busy in those 
days, as we find many consignments arrived " by water " 
as contrasted with others which were " land carried." 

At this period there comes into our story a name — 
that of Simcoe — which lives on in the form of an annual 
gift to some ninety or hundred parishioners. In the tower 
of Cotterstock Church there is a tablet to the memory of 
" John Simcoe, Esq. late Commander of His Majesty's 
Ship Pembroke who died in The Royal Service upon that 
important expedition against Quebec in N. America 
in the year 1759. He spent the greater part of his life 
in the service of his King and country," etc. There are 
buried in Cotterstock Church his two sons, Pawlett William 
and John. But his most distinguished son was Lieutenant- 
General John Graves Simcoe, M.P. for S. Mawes, first 
Governor of Upper Canada, Governor of San Domingo, 
Commander of the Western District. He was appointed 
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in India as successor to 
Lord Lake, but died on returning from a secret mission to 
the Court at Lisbon in conjunction with the Earl of Rosslyn 
before he could take up his command. A monument was 
erected by the county of Devon to his memory in Exeter 
Cathedral. General Simcoe had retired to Wolford Lodge, 
Honiton. He married Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim, of 
Whitechurch, Herefordshire, daughter of Lt.-Col. Thomas 
Guillim and his cousin Elizabeth Spinckes, of Aldwincle, 
whose father, Elmes Spinckes, was Lord of the Manor of 
Warmington. Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe was a cousin 
of Mr. Walcot. General Simcoe had seven daughters, one 
of whom, by her will dated December 13, 1842, left the 
money from which the " Simcoe Tickets " are distributed 
in Oundle each Christmas by the Vicar and Churchwardens. 

War was in the air at the close of the eighteenth and 
the beginning of the nineteenth century. In a letter to 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 121 

Mr. Walcot (junior), dated March 23, 1803, General Simcoe 
says : " Should the war begin I shall go to the West. I 
pray God there may be no war, Corsican or Civil. Dundas 
is on the Staff as General. Lord Chatham, it is now said, 
is to remain at the Ordnance — nor will Lord St. Vincent 
be removed." 

Old Dr. Walcot, father of Mr. Walcot just mentioned, 
was now eighty-four years of age. He had been a very 
active and useful man in parish affairs in Oundle. An 
interesting incident shows that he was a business-like man. 
A townsman of Oundle had appointed Dr. Walcot to act 
with two others as executor of his will. He left a widow 
and two children, who were minors, and by his will he 
bequeathed one-third of his estate to his wife, to be con- 
veyed to her immediately after his death, and one-third to 
each of his children, the latter two-thirds to be invested 
and the interest to be used for the advancement of the 
children during their minority. Dr. Walcot found that 
the widow and his co-executors had been investing money 
without consultation with him. Very naturally he 
required to be released from his executorship, and he 
meant it to be thorough ; for, the document runs — 

" we do each and every one of us remise release, etc. . . . 
from any claim challenge or demand for upon or by reason 
of his being appointed executor and trustee in the said will 
or for upon or by reason of any matter cause or thing what- 
sover from the beginning of the World to the day of the date of 
these 'presents." 

Dr. Walcot's will reveals his generous nature. Not 
only, amongst various legacies, did he provide for annuities 
and bequeath legacies to his three most personal servants, 
but he added that if the annuities should not be sufficient 
to provide for their wants, then his son, who was residuary 
legatee, should " show respect to his father and mother by 
rewarding these old servants for their long and faithful 
service and obliging behaviour." His sempstress, black- 

I 



122 OUNDLE'S STORY 

smith, tailor, his three labourers, his barber, and even the 
widow of his late tailor, were all remembered. He 
adds : — 

"And I do appropriate Fifty Pounds to be laid out 
and expended for a monument which I desire my said son 
will erect for me and my said late wife on the pier between 
the windows in the Chancel of Oundle Church similar to 
the one I caused to be set up for the late Colonel Creed and 
family in Titchmarsh Church." 

The will is dated March 25, 1803, and one of the three 
witnesses was William Bodgener, the parish clerk. 
Amongst other legacies were : " To Mary and Susanna 
Jones daughters of my late schoolmaster twenty pounds 
apeice." Mr. Richard Jones does not appear to have 
been a very successful schoolmaster, and it was a kindly 
thought for one of his old pupils to assist in this small 
way the daughters to whom it may have been a real help. 
The tombstone of Mr. Jones will be found standing against 
the Rectory wall on the extreme North side of the church- 
yard. 

Dr. Walcot died three years after the date of his will, 
and visitors to the church will find that his son duly 
carried out the father's wishes with regard to the monu- 
ment, which is in the exact position designated by him, and 
which bears the following inscription — 

Gulielmo Walcot 

Patri Plurimum Colendo 

Hie Nato et a majoribus 

His Natis oriundo 

Qui quum apud populares suos 

Turn Medici Apprime periti 

Turn Irenarchse strenui et prudentis laude 

Diu Floruisset 

Otio Haud in decoro ibidem consenuit 

item que Mariae 

Matri Carissimae 

Johannis Creed F. Heredi 

que familiam istam 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 123 

ampliam sane et perantiquam 

Benignitate in Pauperes 

Moribusque suavissimis 

Cumulatius Honestavit 

Bene Merentibus 

H. M. P. C. 

Gulielmus F. Unicus 

Vixit ille ann LXXXVII Mens IV 

DECESSIT XV Cal Avg MDCCCVI 

ILLA ann LVII Mens I 
DEC VIII CAL APR MDCCLXXXI 

Dr. Walcot and his son, in succession, amongst many 
other offices, acted as almoners for the Grocers' Company 
with regard to the almsmen and the carrying out of repairs 
to the School and Schoolhouse ; and from time to time 
the Company would appoint a Committee to visit the 
School and Almshouses and examine the accounts. There 
are still local Overseers of the Laxton Almshouse who 
meet with the Headmaster when there is occasion to 
appoint to a vacancy. 

In 1787-88 Mr. Walcot, Junior, was Sheriff of the 
County, and in June, 1796, stood for Parliament, but was 
unsuccessful, for at the elections in that year the 
following were returned : Mr. Thomas Powis and Mr. 
Francis Dickins were elected Knights of the Shire, other- 
wise M.P.'s for the County ; Mr. Spencer Perceval and 
Mr. Edward Bouverie, Burgesses for the County Town, 
otherwise M.P.'s for Northampton ; Mr. Lionel Damer, 
Mr. Richard Benyon, and Mr. Francis Lawrence for Peter- 
borough ; Maj.-Gen. John W. Egerton and Mr. Samuel 
Haynes for Brackley ; and Mr. James Adair for Higham 
Ferrers. But the items and total of Mr. Walcot's election 
expenses throw an interesting light upon the conduct of 
elections in those days. They were as follows : — 



June 2, 


1796. 


£ 


s. 


d. 


25 








10 


10 





19 


10 





12 


8 


6 


1 


11 


6 


74 





6 


15 


2 





10 


1 





1 


1 






124 OUNDLE'S STORY 



Paid by Mr. Butcher as under : — 

For Mr. Walcot's 3 rd share of Poll Booth 

Corporation Fee for building the Booth 

Constables Bill 

Corporation Officers 

Mr. Sam 1 Wright Clerk of All Saints for 

ascertaining the Paupers 
Serg* Pickering for expences respect 8 27 

Militia Men ... 

Same on his own Account for D° 

Serg* Cleaver 

Militia Corporal 

Mr. Bramston's Servant for Journey to 

London 3 13 5 

Musick, Ringers, Runners, Flag Carriers & 

Sundries about 480 



Bills for Ribbons & Flags 

Do to Innkeepers & Publicans £1885 18s. 

Say about 
Mr. Burnham's Bill for Stationary 

Mr. Birdsall's D° f or D° 

Mr. J. Cooch's Bill for a Cheese 

Printer's Bill 

Agents (viz.) 

Mr. Jeyes, Mr. Gates, & Mr. Hayes 
20 Gs each 

3006 11 11 
Mr. Markham & Mr. Butcher Printer's 

Journeymen, Mr. Bramston & Son 10 6 

The confinement of French prisoners at Norman 
Cross in the early days of the great wars with France was 
a source of benefit to trade in Oundle. The regiment in 
charge, in addition to the Northampton and other militia 
regiments, was the 5th Regiment of Foot, and between 
1795 and 1800, 6,421 barrels of beer (at 36 gallons per 
barrel) were supplied on contract to the various regiments 
from Oundle Brewery. Many years ago there was 
published fin Chambers' Miscellany (W. & R. Chambers, 
Ltd.) an account of the escape of a French prisoner from 
Norman Cross in 1809. He says : " No ale or beer was 



652 17 
451 16 


11 



1800 

1 18 
3 19 

2 8 
30 11 



9 
6 
9 



63 






" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 125 

served out to us, but we were allowed to purchase it 
at the canteen in the prison." Though possessed of a map 
the anxious prisoner, instead of making towards Peter- 
borough, turned in a wrong direction — 

" I kept on thus, some short time longer, when I came 
to a tollgate, situated at the foot of an extraordinarily 
long bridge which led to Oundle, a town of considerable 
size. The chimes of the church clock were just playing 
the hour of three. I continued my journey through dark 
long and dirty streets without stopping or seeing any one, 
when I came to another bridge." 

Entering a hovel near the Barnwell Bridge the fugitive 
saw pursuers actually enter the hovel, but, undiscovered, 
he continued his way only to make a circuit and once 
more enter Oundle. Ultimately, however, he reached 
King's Lynn, and crossing the sea arrived in his native 
land. 

Until a few years ago relics of Norman Cross were to 
be found in New Street in the shape of a pair of large gates 
to the Turk's Head Inn, which adjoined the South end of 
the School House. The Turk's Head was demolished 
in order to make way for the School House Studies, but 
links with it remain in the mullions which were incorpor- 
ated in the studies' windows. The old iron gates fronting 
the street were brought from a position in the North 
backway — Milton Road — just beyond the gazebo which 
looks over the wall. There is a similar building on the 
wall of the present Berrystead in the East Road. 
The word is a humorous future from the imaginary Latin 
gazeo, " I look out." The buildings were so placed that 
the ladies of the family might sit and sew and do 
their tapestry work and see what passed by. It was on 
May 21, 1801 that John Paine conveyed to Trustees the 
property, since called " Paine's Almshouses," to be made 
into five almshouses for Protestant Dissenters or others, 
as the Trustees should think fit, if there be no Noncon- 
formist applicant. The property was evidently well 



126 OUNDLE'S STORY 

converted to its present purpose. Tradition has it that 
the beautiful little doorway which forms the entrance from 
the street was brought from Kirby Hall. 

The members of the Roman Catholic Church found a 
home for worship in the house of Mr. Jinks for some 
forty years from the year 1807. Charles Waller Jinks 
and his brother Thomas lived side by side in West Street 
for many years, and the chapel which was really upstairs 
in the house of the latter was entered from Mr. Charles 
Jinks' house. The family were carriers of goods, and in 
a less degree of passengers, to and from London, and were 
also agents for the London and North Western Ry. for the 
district. The father of the two brothers just mentioned 
was accustomed to announce the approaching departure 
of his coach for London by sounding a cornet in various 
parts of the town. There is still one inhabitant of Oundle 
who is able to tell of journeys to London in the coach 
from the Talbot, the horn and other things connected 
with which are in the possession of the owners. The grave 
of Charles Waller Jinks will be found near the side of the 
walk as one enters the churchyard from the North end of 
New Street. 

The word war-bonus, which is now still familiar, is but 
an echo of a century ago. A note in the minute-book of 
the Latham Hospital records, " To pay to women of house 
—bonus £8 105. 0d., 26 March, 1817." And just as " re- 
construction " after the recent Great War was the natural 
and right thought in the minds of men, so soon after 
Waterloo the same idea occupied the attention of the 
townsmen of Oundle. 

A great step forward towards modern government was 
made by 6th George IV. cap. xxxii., which was an 
" Act for lighting, watching, paving, cleansing, regulating 
and otherwise improving the Town of Oundle in the 
County of Northampton." The Act appointed a body 
of Commissioners, and arranged for succession, who were 
to be empowered to carry out improvements generally. 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 127 

They were to consist, in addition to 92 men specifically- 
named, of the Lord of the Manor for the time being, the 
Vicar of Oundle for the time being, the Headmaster of 
the Free Grammar School for the time being, the 
Churchwardens and Overseers of the poor for the time 
being, and the Steward of the Lord or Lady of the Manor 
for the time being. The qualification for a Commissioner 
was a property qualification — each must be possessed of 
£500 " above reprizes." The Commissioners prepared a 
goodly number of forms of bonds for the borrowing of 
sums for the carrying out of the proposed improvements. 
They were evidently surprised that only four persons 
expressed their readiness to take advantage of these 
bonds as an investment, and this at a higher rate of 
interest than originally proposed and for a larger amount. 
The four who came forward were the Rev, C. E. Isham, 
the Vicar, Mr. John Smith, Dr. Chadwick, the Congrega- 
tional Minister, and a Mr. West. The Commissioners 
were empowered to light the streets, which the French 
prisoner had found so dark, with oil or gas, and to erect 
their own gasworks. One of the first acts of the Com- 
missioners was to enter into a contract for lighting the 
streets with " oil and cotton." They were authorised 
to " appoint a sufficient number of fit and able-bodied 
men to patrol watch and guard the streets and provide 
watchboxes for them." How often have we heard from 
our fathers of these watchmen, and of the pranks played 
upon them by young men returning from late night 
revels, of the men inside their boxes turned face-down- 
wards upon the causeway — the cry of the watchman on 
a wet night — " 3 o'clock, wet night, two moons," So in 
Oundle — 

" The Reverend Mr. Walker having complained of the 
noise in the streets, the Watchman (Wade) was called in 
and his duties explained to him as to his apprehension of 
all persons misbehaving themselves or disturbing the 
peace at night," 



128 OUNDLE'S STORY 

The Commissioners might take down and remove 
buildings, and special mention was made of the " Butchers 
Row," which then disfigured the centre of the Market 
Place. This was soon done and the owners compensated, 
the new shambles to which we alluded in Chapter III. 
being then erected. The Commissioners were enabled 
to pull down the Butter Cross, and the Lord of the Manor 
" at his proper costs, charges and expenses ... to erect 
and build a Market House and a room or rooms over the 
same to be used as a Town Hall." 

Market Day was by the Act changed from Saturday 
to Thursday. The first Thursday market was held on 
Thursday November 20, 1825, and was duly proclaimed 
as follows : — 

" In the name of our Sovereign Lord George the Fourth 
and of Jesse Watts Russell Esq ro Lord of this Manor, I 
do proclaim that the market for the Town heretofore held 
on Saturday is, by virtue of the Act of Parliament lately 
passed for fighting, watching, paving, cleansing, regulating, 
and otherwise improving the said town, discontinued and 
is now by an Order of the Commissioners for carrying the 
said Act into effect and with the consent of Jesse Watts 
Russell Esq re Lord of this Manor of Oundle changed to 
Thursday and the first market so changed is held this 
present seventeenth day of November one thousand eight 
hundred and twenty-five. God save the King and the 
Lord of the Manor." 

This was just six months after the Commissioners had 
got to work, for they held their first meeting at the 
Talbot on May 16, 1825. Mr. Walcot was in the chair, 
and there were present the Rev. C. E. Isham, Dr. James, 
Headmaster, who afterwards became Canon Resi- 
dentiary of Peterborough, and fourteen others. Each 
Commissioner as he attended took the qualifying oath. 
Out of the ninety-two names as Commissioners only six or 
seven continue in their descendants by name in Oundle 
to-day. 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 129 

At the end of their first year (May 31, 1826) the Com- 
missioners made the following order : — 

" That the ground formerly a pond at the top of the 
New Street be offered to the parish for the purpose of being 
added to the churchyard on condition of their inclosing 
the same — also a part of the Market Hill to the corner of 
the Hospital in a range with the present churchyard wall 
be offered to the parish on the same condition." 

An observer entering the churchyard by the North 
New Street entrance should stop when he reaches No. 11 
on the wall ; he will notice a break in the coping. Placing 
his back against the wall and looking southwards he will 
be in line with the churchyard boundary at this date, on 
his right beyond the then wall was Barroway Pond. The 
land from a line with the Vicarage East wall to figure 11 
was given for an extension of the churchyard by Mr 
Walcot, and was consecrated by Spencer, Lord Bishop of 
Peterborough, on June 28, 1813. The above order explains 
the further extension. The word " Hospital " in the 
latter part of the order refers to the Laxton Hospital, 
which was not removed until 1852 — the piece of land 
mentioned is the triangle in front of the Laxton School 
House. At this time, as we have seen, Mr. Walcot was still 
at the Rectory, Mr. John Smith at Bramston House, and 
with his brother Thomas, in addition to the Brewery, was 
in business as a Banker at Cobthorne — at one time it was 
" The Oundle Commercial Bank," at another " J. and 
T. Smith," and again " Smith and Ridsdale." Another 
brother, William, devoted himself to the brewing ; they 
were known as " Goldsmith, Silversmith and Copper- 
smith." Dryden House was then the Dolphin, and 
belonged to Mr. James Yorke. Mr. C. F. Yorke was at the 
" Oundle Bank." The Swan was at the corner of the 
Market Place and New Street. The site of the Victoria 
Hall was the bowling green. The Hind Inn was then 
the Unicorn and the Waggon and Horses was the 



130 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Hind. The Workhouse stood on the site now occupied by 
the Victoria Inn, with the same rectangular frontage. The 
Wesleyan Methodists had their chapel on a spot which is 
now the gateway and west portion of New House. In 
1827 two ministers were appointed and the Oundle 
Circuit established with Elton as now. They moved to 
their present chapel in 1842. 

For the last two years or so of his life Mr. Walcot was 
stricken with illness and unable to take part in business. 
On July 27, 1922, a portrait of Mr. Walcot by Romney 
was sold at Christie's for £735. His property was left to 
the Simcoe family, and the Rectory and Rectorial Manor 
of Oundle passed by purchase to Mr. John Smith. Mr. 
Smith also purchased at a later date from the Rev. Henry 
Addington Simcoe, son of the General, his Ashton Estate. 
Up to the end of his life Mr. Walcot exacted the ancient 
payments recoverable to the Rector under the Small Tithes 
Recovery Act, 1696, such as Mortuaries, etc., e.g. the 
estate of Mrs. Tookey, whose grave is immediately to the 
South of the Tower, was, I believe, the last to be charged 
with a " Mortuary " payment, which, by an Act of 1529, 
was limited to 105. But " Easter Dues," which came to 
be called in Oundle " Apron money," because the trades- 
men were the main contributors, were received by Mr. 
John Smith and his son, Mr. John William Smith, whose 
life was to be most happily linked with him whose name we 
must next mention. The messengers who went to pay the 
dues in the latest years were so hospitably treated that 
they were anxious to represent many Rectorial creditors. 
The legal amount of these dues was originally fixed at 
2d. per head, but somehow in Oundle they stood at the 
strange figure of Is. 2\d. per house. 

The Improvement Commissioners, in spite of their 
most creditable efforts, did not concern themselves with 
over-crowding. The Rev. Charles Hume, who came as 
curate to Oundle in October, 1836, started at once to make 
an amateur census of the parish ; it contains many points 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 131 

of interest, but one concerns us here, namely, that in a house 
in " Green Man Yard " John and Mary King lived with 
their thirty-five grandchildren. Mr. Isham, Mr. Hume's 
Vicar, lived at Polebrooke, of which parish he was also 
Rector, and Mr. Hume continued a quiet and faithful 
ministry until the advent of the Rev. Joshua Nussey. 

Just at the close of Mr. Hume's residence in Oundle, 
an unfortunate suit was presented against the Grocers' 
Company, in which eight Relators, principal inhabitants of 
Oundle, sued for a decision that the whole income arising 
from Sir William Laxton's estate should be spent upon the 
School in Oundle. The case was heard by Lord Langdale, 
Master of the Rolls, who based his decision upon the con- 
sideration : " Does the Codicil of Sir W m Laxton's 
will, by the words of it, attach a trust to the whole pro- 
perty ? " Lord Langdale answered this question in the 
negative, and the Relators were called upon to pay the costs 
of both sides. They afterwards appealed to the Charity 
Commissioners, but the appeal was ignored. The mistake 
was soon realised, and the " Oundle Useful Companion," 
published by R. Todd and Son, said (1855) : " We can- 
not close this brief notice of our Grammar School without 
congratulating the town and neighbourhood on the 
advantages they at present derive from it." 

Mr. Nussey had many tasks before him when he came 
to Oundle and, being a man of strong character, he met 
with much opposition. He found it necessary to inquire 
into charities and to assert the position of the incumbent 
with regard to the freehold of the churchyard ; but the 
great work with which his name should be associated 
always was the interior restoration of the parish church. 
Unfortunately in 1827 and in 1831 faculties had been 
granted for erecting galleries and granting certain pre- 
scriptive rights as to pews. On February 12, 1846, certain 
property in New Street was offered for sale by auction at 
the Talbot " together with a pew in Oundle Church appur^- 
tenant thereto and numbered (blank)." All now said that 



132 



OUNDLE'S STORY 



the galleries were an eyesore, but their removal meant 
trouble about seating. Meetings and counter-meetings 
were held. " Miles's Boy " did not appear, but, after the 
manner of that period, two supporters of the Vicar made 
merry with anonymous pamphlets of a humorous character 
over the noms de plume of " A Buttress "and " Ben Back- 
stay." The latter, who played the part of a one-legged 
sailor, concludes, " I have heerd the middies pitch a yarn 
about an old man, his son, and a donkey. I think if the 
Swabs would read it, it would do them good." A note is 
added by the printer : " Ben is quite correct, there is no 
such thing as private property in a church, nor does 
there exist any power to make it so ; again Ben is correct 
when he recommends the admirable lesson of the Grecian 
fabulist, yet surely our friend Ben does not for a moment 
suppose, that the opponents of the scheme will call upon 
the Committee to carry the church on their backs ; this 
would indeed be heavy responsibility." Happily the 
opponents came into line and helped Mr. Nussey, who 
succeeded in raising a total of £4925 135. Id. exclusive of 
the organ, the Grocers' Company leading the way with a 
generous gift of £500. 

The last parish clerk of the old type in Oundle died 
before the restoration of the church. William Bodgener, 
who followed his father (see p. 118), and whose tomb is 
exactly opposite the South transept, died on the leap day 
(February 29) of 1856, having been clerk for 57 years. 
The book from which he recited the tunes of hymns and 
metrical psalms is before me. A pitchpipe probably used 
by him is in the possession of the present organist. Here 
is the first psalm to the old metrical version : — 

Psalm ye 1. St. Ann Tune. •" p g| 



$ 



s 



Z22I 



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-&ZL 



ZS2I 



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Z2I 



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Z£2I 



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w£t 



" WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 133 

1 The man is Blest that hath not Lent 
To wicked Men his Ear, 
Nor Led his Life as Scorners do 
Nor Sate in Scorners Chair. 

Mr. Bodgener had quite a selection of funeral hymns. 
Here is a verse from one, of which he notes : " Sung at 
Mrs. Eyre's Funeral, March 31, 1811. (The note corre- 
sponds with the Burial Register.) 

The greedy Worms devour my Skin 

And gnaw my wasting Flesh, 
When God shall build my Bones again, 

He elothes them all afresh. 

Few interments took place in the churchyard after 
Mr. Bodgener's death, the last being on June 22, 1860. 
Interments took place in the new cemetery before the 
formal consecration of the Church portion. The Master 
of the Latham School has a note in his register : " Monday, 
Oct. 15th/60. The Consecration of the New Cemetery 
Burial Ground. The boys attend. The singing a 
failure." 

On the morning of Sunday, August 16, 1868, smoke 
was seen to issue from the long apertures of the Church 
Belfry. There is still one parishioner who was early on 
the scene and helped to prevent the spreading of the 
flames. Workmen had been engaged on the Saturday 
afternoon in repairing the clapper of the tenor bell — 
hence the explanation. The clock and bell frame were 
destroyed and four bells were cracked. Oundle chimes, 
dating from the renewal of the clock, 1868, are, I think, 
unusual. Five 4-note phrases are used, each occurring 
twice. 

a b c d e 




At the quarter " a " only ; at the half, " b " and " c " ; 
at the threequarters, " d," " e," and " a " ; at the hour, 



V 



<v 



d," " e." 



134 OUNDLE'S STORY 

Mr. Nussey was the last Vicar of Oundle appointed by 
the Crown. By an Order in Council dated April 14, 
1869, an exchange was effected whereby the Bishop of 
Peterborough (Dr. Magee) gave to the Crown the patronage 
of Harpenden for the presentation to Oundle. Jesus 
Church, the gift of the late Mr. Watts Russell, was con- 
secrated by Bishop Magee, as a chapel of ease, on July 29, 
1879. At this time three houses, and workshops adjacent 
thereto, were standing on the site of the old chapel of 
St. Thomas of Canterbury ; these were removed together 
with certain corbels, etc. then remaining. A shop front 
was reinstated in North Street, where it still stands. The 
drainstone of the original piscina of St. Thomas's chapel 
is in the possession of the -writer of this story. 

Little remains to be told. On January 2, 1895, our 
Urban Council held its first meeting and chose for its 
first chairman one outside the Council, Mr. F. W. Sander- 
son, Headmaster of Oundle School. The following year, 
Canon Hopkins, after twenty-five years as Vicar, resigned, 
and was followed by the Rev. A. E. Oldroyd, in whose 
time the spire was restored — Mr. Oldroyd placing the 
weathercock upon the spire in October, 1899. There was 
a restoration of the spire in 1837. Twice in living memory 
the spire has been successfully climbed to its full height 
by Oundle schoolboys, the cap of one climber which was 
placed on the weathercock, being now in the proud 
possession of a townsman. 

In 1876 the Governors brought out a new scheme, 
dividing the School into two parts — The Laxton School, 
and the Grocers Company's School in Oundle. Owing to 
the farseeing and progressive methods of the present Head- 
master, numbers have risen from 91 to 540, and it is due 
to him that Oundle is known by hundreds who had never 
heard its name before. The many beautiful buildings 
that have risen tell the story of his work, and the 
beautiful School Chapel whose walls are slowly rising will 
crown the glory of it all. 



M WHAT WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS " 135 



Vicars of Oundle, 

David Newton, September 28, 1481. 

John Ranwyke, LL.B., September 4, 1503. 

Humphrey Morice, B.C.L., January 8, 1517-18 — 1565, 
[Living vacant for some years.] 

Leonard Greaves, 1583. 

William Raye, 1583-4. 

Henry Ratcliffe, 1595. 

Thomas Biersley, 1598—1610. 

George Coldwell, M.A., July 12, 1610—1616. 

John Townshend, B.A., 1616. 

Arthur Smyth, M. A., June 15, 1621, buried Februaryl2, 
1641-2. 

Richard Resbury, 1642-? deprived 1662. 

Benjamin Dillingham, April 4, 1663, buried November 
15, 1679. 

Thomas Oley, January 8, 1679-80, buried January 15, 
1687-8. 

Edward Caldwell, October 3, 1688, died 1719 (buried 
at Pilton). 

Francis Wells, B.A., February 17, 1717-8, died 
March, 1739. 

Edward Yorke, M.A., April 17, 1739, died March, 1759. 

Richard Lisset, M.A., April 7, 1759, buried at 
Bampton, Oxon. 

Benjamin Barnard, January 17, 1763, resigned 1796. 

Joseph Loddington, February 15, 1796, died 1806. 

Charles Euseby Isham, February 9, 1807, resigned 
1845. 

Joshua Nussey, M.A., June 5, 1845, died January, 
1871. 

Charles Hopkins, M.A., Hon. Canon of Peterborough, 
January 25, 1871, resigned 1896. 

Albert Edward Oldroyd, M.A., July 12, 1896, ex- 
changed. 

Henry Pearson, M.A., June 17, 1904, died February, 
1906. 

William Smalley Law, B.D., Hon. Canon of Peter- 
borough, May 19, 1906, 



136 



OUNDLE'S STORY 



EPILOGUE 

In the course of our story we have mentioned the names 
of many who, in their generation, contributed to the 
Oundle of to-day. Inscribed in stone, both in Market 
Place and Church, are the names of the following, who, 
in 1914 — 1918, gave their lives to preserve it : — 



Lieut. 



Royal Navy. 
A. E. G. Coombs. A.B. Seaman J. E. F. Boulter. 



H.3I. Army. 

Colonel E. P. Smith. Private 
Lt.-Col. G. A. Tryon. 

Major M. J. Miskin. „ 

Captain F. C. Norbury. „ 

„ H. E. Williamson. „ 

Lieut. R. B. Sanderson. „ 

2nd Lt. H. N. Curtis. „ 

,, B. Lees. Gunner 

,, D. W. McMichael. Private 

„ P. Munds. „ 
J. H. M. Smith. 

Sergt. J. E. Crawley. „ 

„ J. Hunter. „ 

„ B. L. Siddons. „ 

Corpl. T. L. Cooper. Gunner 

„ B. F. Loakes. Private 
A. E. Smith. 
W. Stafford. 

L.-Corpl.W. Craythorne. „ 

„ H. Malsbury. „ 

„ H. G. M. Markham. „ 

„ A. Page. „ 
Private G. E. Afford. 

„ R. Barrett. Gun Tier 

„ I. Bell. Private 

„ A. F. Bennett. Gunner 

Gunner C. J. Bennett. Private 

Private T. G. Chaplin. 

S. J. T. Cooper. 

„ E. Cottingham. 

F. H. Cullop. 

P. E. Cullop. 

T. P. Ellis. 



F. E. Garrett. 
M. W. Gurton. 
H. B. Hancock. 
J. Hill. 

W. Johnson. 

G. Lacey. 

T. J. Leverett. 
R. Lilleker. 
C. Mancktelow. 
J. Mears. 
F. Peacock. 
A. Phillipson. 
F. Phillipson. 
F. H. Preston. 
J. T. Pridmore. 
F. O. RoUerson. 
J. Roughton. 
R. B. Seaton. 
J. W. Sexton. 
W. E. Sharpe. 
C. Sharpe. 
W. Sharpe. 

F. Smith. 

G. E. Smith. 
A. J. S. Smith. 
T. E. Smith. 

C. Stretton. 
P. J. Stretton. 
S. Swann. 
S. H. Taylor. 
H. Titman. 
C. L. Vear. 
F. Whistlecroft. 




p. 136 



Photo, by F. IV. Lane, OtetidU 
THE TOWN WAR MEMORIAL 
(With Talbot Hotel) 



Laxtonis prudentia 
Ludum hie f undavit ; 
Domini dementia 
Adhuc conservavit 
Floreat Undelium, 
Hoc Deum oramus ; 
Et per omne sseculum 
Idem concinamus. 



(From Oundle School Song.) 



"ffloreat WufceUum!" 



INDEX 



iETHELWOLD, 4 

Altars in Church, 21 

Apprentices (1701), 103 

Apron money, 130 

Ashton, 8, 26, 42, 89, 112 

Ashton, Richard, 13 

Austell, Thomas, 24, 28 aeq., 42, 

64 
Avondale, 1 

Bailiffs of Latham Hospital, 

69 75 
Banks in Oundle, 129 
Barroway Pond, 129 
Bassett, 40 

Beaufort, James de, 12 
Bedell, family of, 96, 112 
Bedesmen, Laxton, 53, 57, 116, 

129 
Bedford, Earl of, 24, 38, 43, 54, 80 
Beeching, Dr., 21 
Bellamy's Charity, 85 
Bells, Church, 31, 32, 95 
Benefield Road, 1, 12, 25 
Bere, John de la, 14 
Berrystead, the, 34, 38 
Biggin, 1, 24 
Black Pot Lane, 34 
Black Watch, 116 
Bodgener, William, 118, 122, 132 
Bonner, 43 
Boor, John, 12 
Brake, Thomas, 12 
Bramston, 31, 32, 100, 104, 117 
Brewery, Oundle, 119, 124 
Brickstock, 12 
Browne, Robert, 23 
Buccleuch, Duke of, 71 



Bullen, Dr., 119 
Burford, 22 
Burgo, John de, 9 
Burials, in woollen, 101 
Bury Street, 25, 27, 89 
Butchers' Row, 28, 89, 128 
Butler, family of, 85 

Caldwell, Rev. E., 96, 99, 100, 

112 
Cawthorne, Thomas, 69, 99 
Cemetery, 133 
Chancel, 16 

Chapel End, 26, 27, 42, 89 
Charles I., 80 
Chimes, 133 
Churchfield, 8 
Church Lane, 27, 28, 36, 89 
Churchyard, 133 
Cliffe, Richard, 28 
Clifton's Charity, 115 
Cobthorne, 30, 109 
Colingham, Hugh de, 10 
Collar of Esses, 51 
Commoners, rights of, 64 
Copyholders (in 1565), 45 
Cotterstock, 10, 19 
Cottingham, 14 
Creed, family of, 98, 111, 115 
Creed, John, 91, 100, 103, 108 
Creed, Mrs., 92, 108 
Creed, Major Richard, 109 
Creed, Miss Jemima, 109 
Creed's Charity, 112 
Cromwell, Oliver, 82 
Cross Keys, the, 42 
Croyland, Robert de, 10 
Cuthbert, Edward, 69 
139 



140 



INDEX 



Dalderby, Bishop, 10 
Darn well, John, 101 
Dillingham, family of, 87 
Directory, the, 81 
Dix, Thomas, 119 
Dodmore, 43 
Domesday, 7 

Dowell Wong Lane, 27, 34 
Drinking Cup, 20 
Drumming Well, the, 40 
Duck Lane, 27, 34 
Dudley, Sir Matthew, 107 
Dunstan, St., 4 

Edgar, King, 4 
Elizabeth, Queen, 77 
Elmington, 89, 103, 104 

Faculties, Ecclesiastical, 130 

Fairs, 43 

Feoffees, Oundle Town, 31, 65, 

99, 115 
Ferrar, family of, 80 
Filbrigge, William, 92 
Fire in Church Tower, 133 
Flemish Weavers, 108 
Fotheringhay, 22, 27, 30, 42, 77, 

78 
Franklin, Thomas, 31, 99 
Freeholders (in 1565), 45 

Gazebo, 125 
Gidding, Little, 80 
Gifford, John, 10 
Glapthorn Road, 25 
Glyn, Bishop, 4 
Goodrich, Mr. Daniel, 116 
Grocers, Company of, 49, 89 
Guild of Our Lady, 32, 42, 48 
Guildhall, 35, 48, 53 

Hamilton Thompson, Mr., 19 

Harp, The, 26 

Hayles of Ashton, 48 

Henry VIL, 32 

Henry VIII., 26 

Hewson, family of, 87, 99 

Hexham, 3 

High Street, 27, 30 

Hillfield, 29, 43 



Hodge, Francis, 96 
Holey n, Henry, 15 
Holme, Roger, 12 
Hume, Rev. Charles, 130 
Hunt, family of, 90. 100, 113 



Improvement Act (1825), 126, 

130 
Independents, The, 99 

James I., 77 
James, Rev. Dr., 128 
Jasper, Mr. B., Ill 
Jeremie Hill, 43 
Jericho, 27 

Jesus Church, 26, 36, 134 
Jinks, family of, 118, 126 
John of Oundle, 9, 
Jones, Rev. Richard, 112 

Kirkham, family of, 79 

Langton, Stephen, 32 
Lark Lane, 26, 27 
Latham, Nicholas, 34, 63 
Latham Charity, Statutes of, 67 
Latham Sermon, 74 
Laundimer House, 34 
Law's Holme, 43, 109, 110 
Laxton, Sir Wm., 35, 36, 48 seq., 

112 
Lectern, 22 

Leicester, Diocese of, 3 
Leland, 26 
Lewis, John, 92, 94 
Little Gidding, 80 
London Chronicle, the, 41 
Loringe, Sir Wm., 61 
Lynacre, Robert, 56 

Market Cross, 28 
Market Day, 128 
Market Harborough, 1 
Market Place, 28 
Market Rights, 44 
Mildmay, Sir W., 55, 62 
Mill Lane, 27, 31, 42, 89 
Mill, Oundle, 8, 29 
Milton Lane, 42 



INDEX 



141 



Montagu, family of, 65, 80, 98 
Morice, Rev. Humphrey, 46 
Morton, John, 2, 41 
Mortuaries, 11, 130 
Murthwaite, Rev. Samuel, 113, 
118 

Nave of Church, 18 
Nene River, 2 
New Street, 25, 90 
Newton, Rev. David, 15 
Norman Cross, 124 
North Bridge, 59 
North Street, 25, 89 
Nussey, Rev. J., Ill, 131, 133 

Oldroyd, Rev. A. E., 124 
Oley, Rev. Thomas, 96, 99 
Overseers, the, 125 
Ow furlong, 26 

Page, family of, 89 

Paine's Almshouses, 125 

Parr, Catherine, 24 

Peakirk, 10 

Pepys, Samuel, 91, 98 

Perio MiU, 77 

Pest House, 89 

Peterborough, 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 

19, 29, 32 
Pexley Field, 12, 43 
Pickering, Sir G., 88, 92, 98 
Pickering, Mrs. Betty, 91, 92 
Plague, the, 88 
Pocock, Sir Isaac, 39 
Powys, Duke of, 115 
Psalm 104 (v. 30), 4 
Pulpit, the, 22 

Ralph, the Rector, 9 
Ramsey, William, 14 
Raper, Mr. William, 117 
Rectors, list of, 15 
Rectory, the, 34, 77, 130 
Resbury, Rev. Richard, 80, 86 
Richard II., 12 
Robinson, Randolph, 31 
Rotten Row, 106, 119 



Sadler, John, 56 

St. Osyth Lane, 25, 33, 89 

St. Thomas' Chapel, 26, 28, 134 

Sanderson, F. W., 134 

School, the, 53 seq., 59, 131, 134, 

137 
Scotter, 9 
Selsey, 3 

Shambles, the, 28 
Simcoe, family of, 120 
Skeat, Rev. Professor, 1, 78 
Skynner, Philip, 12 
Smith, Mr. J. H., 22 
Smith, family of, 129, 130 
Somerset, the Protector, 35 
Squire, Samuel, 82 
Stair Turret, 17 
Steward, Elmes, 103, 110 
Stocks, the, 36 
Stoke Road, 26 
Strongland, 29, 43 
Survey of Town (in 1565), 24 seq. 



Talbot, the, 39, 78, 90, 102 

Tansor, 10 

Taylor, Mrs. E., 112 

Theodore, Archbishop, 3 

Thoresby, John de, 1 1 

Thorold, Abbot, 8 

Tokens, 90 

Tower, Central, of Church, 17 

Town Hall, 28, 

Transepts, 16 

Tresham, Sir Thomas, 33 



Undela, 1, 5, 7, 137 
Unna, 1 

Vigarage, the, 37 
Vicars, list of, 135 
Vivien, 8 



Wakerley, 30, 43 

Walcot, family of, 89, 98, 100, 

113, 118,^129 
War bonus, 126 
War Memorial, 136 



142 



INDEX 



Warden of Latham Hospital, 68 
Warren's Bridge, 27 
Watts Russell, J., 128, 134 
Weavers, Flemish, 108 
Wesleyan Methodists, 130 
West Street, 25, 30 
Westmoreland, Earl of, 102 
Whitby, Council of, 2 
Whittingham, Mr. A. B., 16 



Whitwell, Mr. W., 38, 78, 89, 

100 seq., 104 
Wild, Dr. Robert, 87 
Wilfred, St., 2-4 
Workhouse, the, 130 
Wulf stan, Archbishop, 4 
Wyatt, Robert, 20 seq. 

Yorke, family of, 129 



THE END 



PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WM. CLOWES AND SONS, LTD., LONDON AND BECCLES. 



